The Damaigu Buddhist Temple Ruins

Damaigu Buddhist Temple Ruins

The Damaigu Buddhist Temple Ruins is a national AA-level tourist attraction and a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level.

Guide: The ruins are located 25 kilometers northeast of Cele County in Hotan. Centered around Old Damaigu, there are many other ruins in the surrounding area. About four to five kilometers northwest of the site lies the Wuluzati Mausoleum, about one kilometer southwest is the Liujiate Mausoleum, four to five kilometers northeast is the Sufuqi Mausoleum, and four to five kilometers southeast is the Qiaopan’ate Mausoleum. About six to seven kilometers due north is the Kanaqin City, and more than ten kilometers due east are two stupa ruins spaced approximately one kilometer apart from north to south. Therefore, Old Damaigu is actually part of an extensive ancient ruins complex. Professor Huang Wenbi recorded in his book *Archaeological Notes on the Tarim Basin*: “Traveling northeast from Damogou Village and entering the desert for about five to six kilometers, you will begin to see scattered red pottery fragments, indicating that you are approaching an ancient residential area. Heading further east, you will arrive at a site with numerous rubble fields called Tertegelamu, stretching several kilometers from southwest to northeast. Although the houses have been destroyed, their traces allow the identification of streets and alleys, including a main road leading northeast, clearly the remnants of an old town…”

The site has yielded numerous ancient coins ranging from those of the Han Dynasty's Wuzhu era to the Kara-Khanid Khanate period, various daily utensils and ornaments, pottery and clay figurines bearing Buddhist symbols, as well as ancient Khotanese documents. Some scholars believe that the Old Damaigu ancient ruins complex was the Han Dynasty’s Qianmi City, the Tang Dynasty’s Kan City, or the Ming Dynasty’s Pei’in City.

Xinjiang, Hotan

Further reading:

· Seventh Batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level