Longmen Grottoes: Amazing Caves III

The Biggest Buddha at Longmen Caves

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Juxiansi cave at Longmen caves seen from a distance. Longmen Grotto Caves are numerous caves collectively, among them there are Lotus (Lianhua) Flower Cave, Juxiansi Cave which is the largest of the Longmen Caves collective, Medical Prescription Cave, Guyang Cave, Fengxian Cave and many more. Besides the ever-present Buddha theme, lotus flowers are a common and recurring element in the relief carvings at this site. The cave “Medical Prescription Cave” is aptly named for its entrance is adored with inscriptions that document some one-hundred and forty 6th century remedies and curatives for common ailments. Some of the homeopathic prescriptions inscribed upon these entrance walls are still in use in modern China today.

Typically, the sculptures and carvings in these caves and grottoes are devoted to Buddha and his disciples and depist various scenes of how Buddhism came to China. The 17-meter tall Buddha at Fengzian Caves is the largest at Longmen. There is a tradition that if you can reach around his ankle make your fingers touch, it is a good omen and you are considered to be lucky. But there is a fence around the Fengzian grotto today and you cannot get close enough to try this. All of these caves at Longmen are included under the umbrella of a World Heritage Site.

A World Heritage Site is a site, location or place such as a mountain, lake, monument, city, etc, that has been voted to be a significant contribution to humanity. According to Wikipedia, as of 2008 there are 878 sites worldwide that are so listed. Of those, 678 are cultural, 174 are natural (lakes, caves, mountains, etc.) and there are 26 mixed properties in this list. The nation of Italy has the greatest number of World Heritage sites, ranking in with 43 sites.

Longmen Cultural Icons

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Longmen is open to public tourism and most of the artwork of the sculptures can be viewed from the outside although the general public is not permitted to enter the grottoes.

The Longmen Caves Research Institute says that there are 2345 caves (nice number, eh?) and niches, 2800 inscriptions and over 100,000 Buddhist images throughout the site. Nearly 2/3rds of the caves date to the Tang Dynasty and one third date from the Northern Wei Dynasty, and another 10% of the total date to other dynastic periods. The whole of this artwork and sculpturing construction dates from between 316 to 907 CE and is rated as being some of the most impressive treasure troves of sculpting in all of China.