Grinning Bodhisattva statue from Yungang Grottoes amazes
visitors
2016-01-12 ChinaDaily USA
A photo of a smiling Bodhisattva statue with dimples from
Shanxi's Yungang Grottoes has gone viral since it was unveiled at a
recent photo exhibition.
The Bodhisattva statue, from the eighth cave of the world
cultural heritage site, has a long history of more than 1,500
years.
The statue, around 2 meters high, is sculpted with its palms
together and a satisfied grin and dimples on her face. "A grinning
Bodhisattva statue is very rarely seen in the field of the world's
Buddhist statue art", Zhang Hua, a researcher from the Yungang
Grottoes Research Institute said, according to the Shanxi Evening
News.
The statue was fully revealed to the public thanks to
photographer Zhang Haiyan, who spent several days finding the best
angle for the photo, with the help of an artificial light source
during his shoot last year.
The special Bodhisattva statue caught his attention as early as
the 1990s, but due to the dark light, he didn't see the dimples on
the statue's face.
A recent exhibition of his photographs during the recent photo
exhibition held within the Yungang Grottoes Research Institute
fully presents the beauty of the dimpled Bodhisattva statue.
"The grinning Bodhisattva statue seems lively and adorable, and
has broken China's old feudal concept that girls shouldn't reveal
their teeth when smiling and feet when walking", Zhang said.