Kumtura Thousand Buddha Caves

Kumtura Thousand Buddha Caves

The Kumtura Thousand Buddha Caves are a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Kumtura Thousand Buddha Caves are located about 30 kilometers southwest of Kuqa County in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and are a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit. "Kumtura" is a transliteration from the Uyghur language, meaning "beacon tower in the desert." The cave complex is distributed on the foothills or cliffs along the eastern bank of the Weigan River and is divided into northern and southern sections, about 3 kilometers apart. The northern section has a relatively dense distribution of caves, with 80 numbered caves, but fewer than half of them have well-preserved cave structures and murals. The southern section's caves are scattered along the eastern riverbank and several valleys, with 32 numbered caves, and fewer than 10 are well-preserved.

The Kumtura Thousand Buddha Caves, as renowned as the Kizil Thousand Buddha Caves, are situated on the cliffs of the Queletage Mountain by the Weigan River, 30 kilometers southwest of Kuqa County. Qing Dynasty scholar Xu Song wrote in his *Western Regions Waterways Classic* that this place features “precipitous mountain terrain with five stone chambers atop, each over ten feet high and about twenty feet deep, with dozens of Buddha figures carved into the walls, adorned with jewelry and flowers, and painted in faded yet vibrant colors.”

Kumtura is the cave complex with the highest number of surviving caves in Kuqa County, with 112 numbered caves. In 1961, it was announced by the State Council as one of the first batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

The Kumtura Grottoes were initially carved around the 4th century AD. The "Defeating Mara" mural in Cave 24 features bold and unrestrained brushwork, reflecting the honest, open, and broad-minded spirit of the ancient Kucha people. The "Jataka Tale of Prince Sattva" in Cave 46 uses relatively thick lines to outline the figures, with ochre flat coloring inside, creating a strong sense of three-dimensionality. Cave 32 retains part of the "Parinirvana Transformation," including mourning bodhisattvas whose lines are round, solid, smooth, and soft, full of rhythm—representative of the "Iron Wire Line" style.

Among the Kumtura Grottoes, the Tang Dynasty murals are the most numerous. In terms of content and painting style, they are quite similar to Central Plains art. Here, large-scale transformation story paintings such as the "Western Pure Land," "Eastern Medicine Buddha," "Lotus Sutra," and "Maitreya" can be found. At the same time, many murals from this period also combine elements of both Central Plains and Kucha painting styles. In Cave 36, the mourning bodhisattvas show varied line qualities within the same painting—some lines are tight, round, and smooth, while others are uniformly thick. With a light wash of color, the figures appear graceful and elegant. The figures in Kucha murals are vividly portrayed with beautiful postures, reflecting to some extent the refined demeanor of the ancient Kucha people.

Ticket | Opening Hours: 35 RMB, with additional fees of 100–500 RMB for individual caves.

Aksu City, Xinjiang

Further Reading:

· First Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units