Luoyang is the home of the Longmen Grottos. over 23,000 caves were carved into the hillside and 100,000 Buddhas were carved into the caves and surrounding stone, making this one of the most exquisite examples of Buddhist art. The Buddhas ranged in size from 1 inch to 57 feet. The caves also had 2,500 in scripted stilles and 60 pagodas carved into the rock. Unfortunately, many statues were looted by the Japanese during the Sino-Japanese War (they are housed in Japanese museums) and the statues that survived the Japanese invasion had most of the heads chiseled off the Buddhas during the cultural revolution.
My kids thought it was boring and hard to walk up and down the stairs, but I thought it was breath taking and worth the hike.
No comments:
Post a Comment