This paper examines the wall paintings on the arched ceiling of cave 17 at the Bezeklik Grottoes, identifies that six of them derive from the Avalokitesvara-guna-karanda-vyuha Sutra, and proposes that most of the remaining works also likely from the same sutra. By associating these artworks with additional wall paintings on two side walls, this cave seems to be rich with contents focusing on Avalokitesvara as a central image. Discovery of the Avalokitesvara-guna-karanda-vyuha Sutra reveals cultural exchanges between the Central Plains and Western Regions areas during the Northern Song dynasty and also corrects the previously accepted assumption that the text does not date back to the Xizhou period of the Tang dynasty. By identifying the clan to which the donor figures in the caves belong, the author preliminarily dates the wall paintings to the Northern Song dynasty (late 10th century), prior to the Uighur surrender to the Mongolians (early 13th century).
