MaiJiShan (Wheatstack Mountain) Grottos

Maijishan ("Wheatstack Mountain"), 142 meteres high hill, located on the northern side of the Qinling Mountain Range and at a height of 1742m above sea level, gets it's name from its giant, haystack-like shape. The mountain's fame arises not just from its appearance, but from the many Buddhist caves that are gouged into its southwestern face. This is the fourth largest area of concentrated Buddhist grottoes in China, after Dunhuang, Datong and Luoyang. The area around and on the mountain is one of the most beautiful sights in Gansu for both stunning natural, and impressive man-made, scenery. The mountain, studded with caves and strapped by many winding walkways and spiral stairs, rises majestically from the surrounding heavily wooded slopes.

 

It is the Buddhist Grottoes (Maijishan shiku), some dated from as early as the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534 AD), that most visitors come here to see. The most prominent sculpture is the 16m Buddha that is carved high up on the mountain. The grottoes, all packed together on the sheer, rocky cliff faces below and above this, look from afar like chambers of a gargantuan beehive. On ascending the mountain, the grottoes are divided into two sections, the western and eastern, since the central section was almost completely destroyed by an eighth century earthquake. The western section is probably the better, with statues and other Buddhist articles dating mainly from the Northern Wei Dynasty to the Tang (618-907 AD). Just ascending the mountain, on winding, rickety walkways and spiral stairs, with the wooded mountain panorama below, is a breath of fresh air.

 

Earthquakes, rain and fire have damaged a large part of the caves and wooden structures & after centuries of renovation, expansion, partial destruction and then restoration, the grottoes today still number an impressive 194. Within these can be found over 7,800 pieces of clay sculptures and stone carvings, and murals with an aggregate area of over one thousand square meters. The stone sculptures that can be seen within the caves are of rock that had to be imported to the mountain, since the local rock was of too soft a consistency. The clay sculptures, reflecting the rich styles of high-ranking daily life, mainly portray two distinct eras: the Northern Dynasties (386-581 AD) characterized by slim figures and the Sui and Tang Dynasties (581-907 AD) featuring plumper ones.

 

The posted picture is the 15.7 meter Budhha (carved in Sui Dynasty (581 - 618AD) with 2 Bhuddhavisttas on both sides taken on a raining day. Feedback most welcome.

Pls also see the seris of animation that show the dfferent parts of the mountain.

MaiJiShan views (part 2)

Please click picture to read & see more of MaiJiShan, China's 4th

largest Grottos. Thanks for viewing & feedback.

Cool!! Thanks for sharing. 7/7

Cherlyn, thanks for shaing the image and information.

Nice angle of view; thank you for the background story.

 

Regards...

oh, superb angle daer Cherlyn on those Gods :)

I saw the whole .gif animation of the site, and I love it.

Thank you so much for sharing these beauties with us dear Friend!

B:l:ana

A gem. The angle, exposer, light... all are in a class. Thanks for sharing.

Exclente imagen, belleza de los relieves, color y composicion muy agradabel, PN. no seven, un cordial saludo Cherlyn...http://www.hectorbrandan.com/images/julio-carmona.gif

Great work,cherlyn !

Love the series of images - even the .giff files. Nicely rendered Cherlyn.

Cherlyn, I just comming from Amals Museum. I am touched how well You represent this.With the series, videos and explanation.Wonderful to be there without have to travel there. It gives a great expression, I enjoy it with my whole family. Thank You, for taking us.

you & your family are most welcome on the tour. It feels good to share our experience & know that people enjoy too.

 

Thank you all for visiting :-)

Fascianting, Cherlyn. I love th eone you posted, but enjoyed the historiccal annotations and the series of images you show us. Just great.

Great visual angle for these grand & majestic statue of buddha in the mountain, very well presentation Cherlyn!!! Best regards.

Beautiful capture of such majestic work. I like it very much.

Very good Cherlyn. Nice sculptures. Good perspective. You travel a lot, don't you? DDD

I try to have one long trip once a year, & 1-2 small trips if time permits. So that isn't a lot. Wish I can travel more :-)

Interesting perspective and subject. I love the earthy colours, a result of good light and nice exposure.

fantastic angle and subjects.

Cherlyn, I'm impressed! the information is so interesting as well as the angle here and all the rest. it is a very nice rendition, as well as a whole. Pnina

what a place! I like the picture's viewpoint as well, emphasizing the hand and the eyes, very interesting!

this is fantastic, and you've put so much work into the description, hats off!!!

Cherlyn, great work as always. Good thinking with the animation, and thanks for providing some of the history.

 

I like the angle you've captured the main photo at.

Clever perspective, nice work.