9/21/2023 0 Comments Colossal buddha cave 20![]() ![]() It was fashioned in the 12th century by King Parakramabahu I. The Gal Vihara ( Sinhala: ගල් විහාර, lit.'rock monastery'), and known originally as the Uttararama ( Sinhala: උත්තරාම, lit.'the northern monastery'), is a rock temple of the Buddha situated in the ancient city Polonnaruwa, the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Polonnaruwa, now present-day Polonnaruwa, in North Central Province, Sri Lanka. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks or boxes, misplaced vowels or missing conjuncts instead of Indic text. Read the original.This article contains Indic text. Republished with permission from Ancient Origins. While great steps forward have been made in the preservation of these ancient relics, what Chinese officials have been unable or unwilling to control are the stratospheric levels of air pollution and the resulting acid rain, which continues to pose a threat. "You don't know how bad it was before," said Huang Jizhong, the head engineer at the Shanxi Province Cultural Relics Bureau and former research director at the grottoes. The biggest Buddha, a seated statue 56 feet tall, has a thin layer of gold paint on its face. On some statues, vivid paint added during later dynasties is visible again. Many of the Buddhas now appear in the golden glory envisioned by their creators. Workers used soft brushes to remove the coal dust that coated the statues. They have not only cleaned the statues here and created a vast park, but also shut down nearby coal mines and removed or regulated other sources of air pollution. However, Chinese officials and preservationists have now embarked on an ambitious effort to protect them that could become a model for saving antiquities at other sites. In the 1980s and 1990s, as the coal industry in Shanxi Province powered growth throughout China, up to 20,000 coal trucks passed each day. Burning coal emits sulphur dioxide, which further oxidizes in the atmosphere and then combines with water to produce sulphuric acid, which eats away at the sandstone. Vast parts of China have some of the world's worst outdoor air pollution, and ancient sites across the country are falling prey to its effects. Since the 1960s, the Yungang Grottoes have been protected in law by both the Chinese Government and the Datong Municipal government, and in 2001 the whole area was listed by UNESCO on the World Cultural Heritage List, both to recognize its immense historical significance and to protect them from destruction. When the first emperor assumed the throne, Buddhism flourished and in 460 the monk Tan Yao started the carving of the Five Caves since then, these grottoes have become the centre of Buddhist art in North China. ![]() The statues of the Yungang Grottoes were completed in sixty years (460-525) this period marks the peak of development in Buddhist cave art of the Northern Wei dynasty. It kept its importance until 523, when it was deserted following a revolt. Photo: One of the Buddha statues at Yungang Grottoes in Datong, China.ĭatong, known as Pingcheng in ancient times, became the capital of the Northern Wei dynasty between 398 and 494, and thus the political, economic and cultural centre of their kingdom. The colossal Buddhist statues that sit within the Cliffside caves have survived the rise and fall of dynasties, wars, and revolutions, but it is the harmful effects of modern-day living, including industrial pollution, which is the greatest threat to these ancient wonders, according to reports. ![]() With their 252 caves and 51,000 statues, the Yungang Grottoes represent the outstanding achievement of Buddhist cave art in China in the 5th and 6th centuries and the power and endurance of Buddhist belief in China. ![]() They are excellent examples of rock-cut architecture and one of the three most famous ancient Buddhist sculptural sites of China. The Yungang Grottoes are ancient Chinese Buddhist temple grottoes near the city of Datong in the province of Shanxi. ![]()
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