Thousand Buddha Cave Scenic Area

Thousand Buddha Cave Scenic Area

Thousand Buddha Cave Scenic Area

The Thousand Buddha Cave is located within the steep cliffs on the southern side of Chuwang Mountain in Jiahe Township, Tongshan District. It consists of two caves, front and back. In the late Qing Dynasty, the abbot of Xinghua Temple on Yunlong Mountain ordered the back cave to be sealed off. On either side of the entrance to the front cave stand two stone steles, now illegible. The cave extends about 12 meters deep, and is 3 to 7 meters wide and 2 to 4 meters high. Inside the cave is a large stone-carved Buddha statue and eighteen stone-carved arhats. Beneath the rocky walls, numerous niches are densely clustered in varying sizes — the smaller ones no more than a foot in size. From a distance, the cavities resemble pigeon coops or beehives. Legend has it that there are over a thousand Buddha statues, hence the name “Thousand Buddha Cave.”

In front of the cave, there used to be a temple complex, consisting of a main hall, east and west side halls, and a theater stage. In the 51st year of the Kangxi Emperor’s reign during the Qing Dynasty (1712), it was renovated with donations from 100,000 devotees. It is unclear who carved the cave and created the Buddha statues, or when and by whom the temple in front of the cave was built. Due to wars and other upheavals, the ancient structures have been severely damaged. The sealed-off back cave, which remains unopened, is likely to have sustained considerably less damage.