The name "Peacock Cave" sounds a bit romantic at first glance, is it the cave where the peacock princess lives?
The peacock cave I am talking about is 60 kilometers away from the county seat of Anyue, in the peacock village of Shuanglong Street Township.
Don't underestimate this seemingly inconspicuous peacock cave, it was dug in the Northern Song Dynasty, and it is a proper national key cultural relics protection unit.
Statue of the Peacock King
The owner of the Peacock Cave is the Buddha statue sitting on the peacock we see now - the Peacock King. In ancient Indian legends, the peacock was the natural enemy of the poisonous snake and was deified. The Peacock King is actually the incarnation of the Peacock God, and is said to be a woman with four arms.
Statue of the Peacock King
The Peacock King holds the lotus bud in his left hand, holds the peach in his left hand, holds the feather in his right hand, and holds the Shell Leaf Sutra in his right hand, which is beautiful and generous, elegant and well-preserved.
The peacock king has the colorful wings of the male peacock on his back, which is very powerful and beautiful, and according to legend, he can remove poison and eliminate disasters, and calm the world and the earth.
It is said that Shuanglong Street Township is the former peacock farm, where the trees are dense and the climate is mild, which is very suitable for peacocks to settle down, and peacocks can be seen everywhere at that time, so it is called peacock farm.
To the left and right of the Peacock King stood two majestic kings.
The gestures of the two Heavenly Kings seemed to be the same, and they felt like they were playing.
Shakti vs. Asura
The carvings on the back wall are equally exquisite, depicting scenes from the battle of Shakti against Asura. Shakti is the main protector god of Buddhism, and Asura is one of the eight protector gods of the Buddha kingdom, is a warlike evil god, and there are many stories in Buddhist scriptures about the fight between Asura and Shakti.
The Peacock Cave can be preserved, in fact, it is a fluke, all thanks to a family surnamed Zhou outside the cave.
During the Cultural Revolution, crazy people were ready to blow up the Peacock Cave, but the Zhou family lived here, and the Peacock Cave was connected to his kitchen, and the explosion would definitely affect the kitchen, but the Zhou family did not agree, so the Peacock Cave survived.
There are also several colored Buddha statues next to the Peacock Cave, and it is said that only the leftmost Buddha statue is the previous one, and the rest are later remodeled.
There are also some fragments of stone carvings next to it.
It is never an exaggeration to describe the Peacock Cave with ingenuity, and pay tribute to the great ancient craftsmen! When you go to Anyue to see the stone carvings, the Peacock Cave is definitely not to be missed.
(Photo taken on May 26, 2024)