Cave 96, Mogao Grottoes, Early Tang Period (618-705 A.D.)

This cave was excavated in the early Tang Dynasty. The Buddha statue in this cave is 35.5m high with a width of 12m between knees. It is the largest Buddha statue at Mogao Grottoes.

According to Dunhuang manuscript Record of Mogao Grottoes, the giant Buddha was built in 695 under patronage of a Buddhist master Lingyin and a lay Buddhist Yinzu. The giant Buddha was cut from the sand-stone and then clayed outside, and at last painted. The statue has lost its original appearance due to restorations, yet its grandeur is still kept.

The building in the front of this cave is nine-storied tower, as the name thus came. The Nine-storied Tower originally had only four stories, one more story was added to it during the Late Tang period (874-879). It underwent a restoration in the early Song Dyansty (966). The present Nine-storied Tower was built in 1935 and has become a representative of the Mogao Grottoes.

Publishes at : 07-08-15 22:27

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