Yungang Grottoes
The famous monk Tanyao who started building these grottoes is celebrated by a statue built by the Chinese Government at the entrance of the tourist site. However, the real reason behind the commissioning of this work of art was that Datong was the capital of the Northern Wei dynasty (AD 386-534), which was set up by the Tuobas who came from Mongolia around that time. The dynasty was Buddhist and commissioned this giant work of art which combines what is called the Gandhara style of art and architecture with the Indian-style caves and a Persian influence, while blending it all in the Chinese way. The Gandhara style developed around 2,000 years ago in what is today Afghanistan, as a result of a fusion of Indian and Greek styles of art and architecture, the most superlative example of which were the famous Bamiyaan Buddha statues, which were the highest in the world until they were recently destroyed.
The contribution of the Northern Wei Dynasty has been immortalized in the manner in which the five Big Buddhas have been carved inside the caves, numbered from 16 to 20. It is believed that each of these Buddhas bore a resemblance to the successive rulers of the dynasty, giving them a hallowed presence, and possibly helping them enjoy greater credibility for the local people.
Many of the caves had wooden temples built in front of them from time to time to allow people to worship. While they were also destroyed, today you can appreciate the same, as near Caves 5 and 6 are some temples recreating that magic.
When the capital shifted from Datong to Luoyang in the sixth century, the decline of the Yungang Grottoes began. Although for a few decades after the shift, laypeople and monks kept building the later caves, gradually the state patronage shifted to Longmen near Luoyang, where the second example of giant Buddhist grottoes in China started being built.
When I rushed back to Cave 20 with Eric on our way back from Cave 6, we discovered we had missed out on the group photograph, but the images of thousands of Buddha in the niches, stacked vertically one above the other, of the beautiful colored Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, angels, monks and disciples, were still floating in my mind and most of all, my mind, although still far from a state of perfect bliss, was nevertheless, calm and tranquil, humbled by the power of those thoughts being radiated by those smiling images for hundreds of years.
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