Cave of the Ring-Bearing Doves
The breath-taking reconstruction of a Buddhist cave temple in a display-case-cum-gallery structure spanning two levels is an extraordinary sight to behold. The accessible cave is from Kizil, located near Kucha on the Northern Silk Road in what is now the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (China). When the cave temple was built around the sixth century, Kucha was the capital of a regional kingdom ruled by the Indo-European Tocharians. Scriptures, styles, and rituals were transmitted from Buddhist kingdoms in India and from Gandhara, today Pakistan and Afghanistan. The impact of Iranian culture was also important. Hundreds of caves, mostly with vaulted ceilings, were hewn out of the soft rock. By contrast, Kizil Cave 123, known as the “Cave of the Ring-Bearing Doves”, has a square shape and is crowned by a dome, which is unusual. Its ceiling is decorated with stunning paintings of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, the latter being enlightened beings who remain in this world to help believers achieve better reincarnations and enlightenment. On the side walls two large identical Buddhas dominate.
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Room 315 – Study collection of Buddhist art from the Northern Silk Road and art and culture of the Himalayan region