Tiantu Mountain Grottoes

Tiantu Mountain Grottoes

The Tiantu Mountain Grottoes are a cultural relic protection unit of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

Tiantu Mountain, also known as Xihua Mountain, is located 15 li west of the ancient city of Xi’anzhou in Haiyuan County. About 2.5 kilometers into the valley from the mountain pass, you can see an ancient temple — these are the Tiantu Mountain Grottoes. Due to local legend that a golden ox was once discovered in the mountain, the grottoes are also called Golden Ox Temple, while locals refer to them as Lao Ye Temple because of the statues inside. In addition, it was also known in ancient times as "Rongguang Temple."

On the southern-facing slope north of the valley, temples were built along the mountain’s contours and grottoes carved into the cliffs. There is a winding mountain path leading up from the bottom of the valley. Following the zigzagging trail, climbers reach the hilltop where the Earth God Hall and Dragon King Hall are situated. Below the Dragon King Hall lies a spring known in ancient times as "Guanyin Pool," now called Dragon King Pool. Water gushes from the mouth of a stone dragon, cool and refreshing — visitors to the mountain always stop to drink here.

The Tiantu Mountain Grottoes were carved during the Song and Western Xia periods. The entire mountain houses six grottoes and 13 large and small halls. At that time, Buddhism was flourishing across the country, and temples were constructed on all famous mountains. According to outstanding historical records, in 1046, Western Xia King Yuanhao built a summer palace here. In the past, Tiantu Mountain was home to clusters of temples, with upturned eaves, flying rafters, carved beams, and painted rafters — the temples were truly magnificent. The rugged peaks were embraced by surrounding mountains, dense with trees, featuring steep cliffs and clear springs, with the halls scattered across the slopes and the ancient caves deep and mysterious.

Over the millennia, the Tiantu Mountain Grottoes have endured many hardships, having been destroyed several times by wars and earthquakes, and later rebuilt. The original bronze Buddha statues were almost completely ruined. The most devastating destruction occurred in 1958 during copper smelting, when all the trees around the temple and grottoes were felled, leaving the temples in ruins. In recent years, the grottoes have been restored with newly crafted statues. This cluster integrates Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. To commemorate the birthday of the Infinite Patriarch, a grand temple fair is held annually on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, lasting three days, attracting numerous worshippers. In 1989, it was designated by the county religious affairs bureau as "Tiantu Mountain Taoist Temple," and is a county-level protected historical and cultural site.