Mo Kao Grotto at Dunhuang

Mogao Grottoes is known as an art gallery in the desert and a museum on the wall. Its sculptures are very exquisite and the statues are also famous all over the world! Mogao Grottoes is the largest Buddhist cave site in the world, the longest construction time, and the richest content, so you can imagine its importance. From the architecture of the Mogao Grottoes, we can also see the culture of that time and the wisdom of the ancients, which we admire very much.

The nine-story building outside Cave 96 of Mogao Grottoes is a landmark building of Mogao Grottoes. This is a tall cave eaves with a special form. The total height of the building is 43 meters. The eaves are nine floors. The bottom seven floors are built against the mountains and rocks. The upper two floors are the top cover to protect the head of the 33-meter-high Maitreya statue. The construction of the entire building makes full use of the topography, magnificent and beautiful, adding luster to the Mogao Grottoes.

The nine-story building is the tallest building in the grotto. People are used to calling it the "Great Buddha Hall". This is also the 96th cave of Mogao Grottoes. It is built on a cliff and is located in the center of the Shangsi Grotto of Mogao Grottoes. Here is the world's largest indoor Maitreya Bodhisattva sitting cross-legged. It is recorded that the Big Buddha was built in the Tang Dynasty, so the Maitreya Bodhisattva statue is full and round, typical of the Tang Dynasty style. At that time, it was said that Wu Zetian was in power. In order to consolidate her throne, she advertised to people that she was the incarnation of Maitreya Bodhisattva.

The nine-story building has undergone several reconstructions. At first there were only two floors, but it was not rebuilt into nine floors until the Republic of China. The magnificent red cornice building we see now was reinforced and restored by the Dunhuang Academy in 1986.