The Kumtura Grottoes in Kucha, Xinjiang Autonomous Region

The Kumtura Thousand Buddha Caves (Chinese: 库木吐喇千佛洞; pinyin: Kùmùtǔlǎ Qiānfódòng) (also Qumtura) is a Buddhist cave temple site in the Autonomous Region of Xinjiang, China. The site is located some 25 km west of Kucha, Kuqa County, on the ancient Silk Road.^[1][2] 112 cave temples survive, dating from the fifth to the eleventh centuries. Damaged during the Islamic conquests and subsequently by occasional habitation after abandonment of the site, Kumtura was visited by a number of the early foreign expeditions to Chinese Central Asia, including the 1902 Ōtani expedition, Oldenburg, and Le Coq.^[3][4][5][6] The last detached several wall paintings and took them back to Berlin (now at the Museum für Asiatische Kunst).^[7]

Construction of the Dongfang Hong Hydroelectric Plant in the 1970s caused the water level of the Muzat River to rise and has increased the rate of decay of the wall paintings.^[1] Long-term preservation measures under the auspices of UNESCO began in 1999 with extensive documentation and survey work and consolidation of the conglomerate rock from which the caves are excavated.^[1][8] The site was among the first to be designated for protection in 1961 as a Major National Historical and Cultural Site.^[9] In 2008 Kumtula Grottoes was submitted for future inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the Chinese Section of the Silk Road.^[10]

Headless statue from Kumtura at the Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Berlin

See also[edit]

• Principles for the Conservation of Heritage Sites in China
• National Heritage Sites in Xinjiang
• Kizil Caves
• Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves
• Mogao Caves
• International Dunhuang Project

References[edit]

1. ^ Jump up to:^a b c Agnew, Neville, ed. (2010). Conservation of Ancient Sites on the Silk Road: Proceedings of the Second International Conference. Getty Conservation Institute. pp. 37–9. ISBN 9781606060131.
2. Jump up^ Wang Weidong, ed. (2008). 库木吐喇石窟内容总录 [A general record of the Kumtura caves] (in Chinese). 文物出版社. ISBN 9787501023844.
3. Jump up^ "Japanese Collections". International Dunhuang Project. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
4. Jump up^ "Russian Collections". International Dunhuang Project. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
5. Jump up^ "German Collections". International Dunhuang Project. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
6. Jump up^ Hopkirk, Peter. Foreign Devils on the Silk Road: The Search for the Lost Cities and Treasures of Chinese Central Asia. University of Massachusetts Press.ISBN 0870234358.
7. Jump up^ "MIA Kumtura Collection". University of Washington. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
8. Jump up^ "The Conservation and Restoration of Kumtura Thousand Buddha Caves". UNESCO. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
9. Jump up^ "国务院关于公布第一批全国重点文物保护单位名单的通知 (1st Designations)" (in Chinese). State Administration of Cultural Heritage. 3 April 1961. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
10. Jump up^ "Chinese Section of the Silk Road". UNESCO. Retrieved 28 April 2012.

External links[edit]

• Kumtura Thousand Buddha Caves Conservation Project (UNESCO)
• Conservation of Ancient Sites on the Silk Road (1st Conference) (GCI)
• Conservation of Ancient Sites on the Silk Road (2nd Conference) (GCI)
• (Chinese) Xinjiang Cultural Relics Bureau (search term: 库木吐喇千佛洞)

From: Baohuasi.org/news

库木吐拉新一、二窟都是七十年代新发现的石窟，也因此这些精彩的壁画当年没有被德国探险家剥离，得以幸存在原地。当我踏入新二窟时感受到的震撼难以言表，让这些照片来重温那份喜悦和感动吧。

　　这个洞窟约建于五世纪，穹窿顶中心绘大莲花，用放射线将窟顶划分为13个梯形条幅，13身菩萨除1身外，皆两两相对立于莲花之上。他们或擎莲花，或托钵，或持花绳供养。既带着犍陀罗的风格，又融合了印度和中原的元素。线条和晕染的巧妙组合，富有立体感和韵律。