Arrangement of Statues in Grottoes
Detached: Individual statues are separately designed and manufactured, without any connection with each other.
Centripetal: The most common combination of color statues is with Buddha sitting in the core, and Bodhisattva, heavenly kings, Hercules sitting at the both sides of Buddha symmetrically.
Multi-centre: More than one statue groups are arranged in the grottoes.
Parallel: The method of arrangement is mainly employed to make shadow statues of Thousand Buddhas, which are laid in an order of equal distance in length and width.
The most prominent artistic feature of Dunhuang color statues lies in the combination of all the statues in one grotto with murals to form an integral part, being supplemental to each other. Color statues on Buddhist altars and niches, accompanied by murals, are so arranged that they are in the dominant positions without damaging the uniformity of the entire grotto art. Therefore the whole grottoes feature uniformity and harmony. Another characteristic is the rich content and colo. With rich imagination, craftsmen carved all the figures of Buddha in a thousand different postures, expressions and looks.
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