Mogao Cave 328

Mogao Cave 328 was built during early Tang Dynasty (617-704AD). This cave with a truncated pyramidal ceiling was originally built in late period of Early Tang. The four walls and the ceiling had been restored and repainted in Western Xia. The ceiling center features an image of a vessel of Esoteric Buddhism named karma-vajra. The niche with a Hat ceiling in the west wall has a group of stucco figures. The central Buddha with a conch-shaped hair and a little longer face is seated with right hand raised up in abhaya mudra and left hand covering le0 knee. His kasaya is of light and tender quality with well-handled folds on the parts covering the legs and throne. Ananda to the south side leans forward with hands in sleeves before the belly, and Kasyapa to the north side stands in respect with palms joined and eyebrows frowned.
The two images best exhibit the dexterity and courtesy of the two bhiksus. The next Bodhisattvas are seated in an easygoing gesture ,both with towering hair chignons. There are four worshiping Bodhisattvas on the outermost sides, and the one on the south side was stolen away by Landon Warner in 1924, now kept in the Sackler Museum of Harvard University, U. S. A.