ベゼクリク千仏洞

The Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves (Baizeikelike Qianfodong) are a Buddhist rock-cut temple complex in the Mutou Valley of the Flaming Mountains, near Turpan, Xinjiang. Cut into a sandstone cliff face above a riverbed, the site was in use between the sixth and thirteenth centuries and was one of the principal Buddhist centers of the Uyghur Khaganate period. Its murals are among the most important surviving examples of Central Asian Buddhist painting.

The caves are reached by a steep, switchback path from the valley floor up to a wide wooden walkway that runs along the cliff face. Most of the accessible caves are small and barrel-vaulted, originally plastered and painted with rows of Buddhas, bodhisattvas, donors, and narrative scenes. At their height the murals covered nearly every surface and drew on artistic conventions from Sogdiana, Gandhara, and Tang China, a visual record of the Turpan oasis as a crossroads of the Silk Road.

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, many of the best-preserved murals were removed by foreign expeditions and are now held in museums in Berlin, St. Petersburg, Tokyo, and elsewhere. Interpretive panels at the site document this history, and the surviving fragments in situ, together with the architectural features of the caves, still convey the scale and sophistication of the original program.

The principal cave, often called the Platform Cave, retains a raised circumambulation platform and a fragmentary ceiling that suggest the original spatial effect. Other caves preserve small donor portraits, Uyghur and Chinese inscriptions, and the outlines of large seated Buddhas. Photography is restricted in some caves to protect the surviving pigment, and lighting is kept low.

A visit to Bezeklik typically takes about ninety minutes and pairs naturally with the nearby ruins of Gaochang and the eastern end of the Flaming Mountains, all of which sit within a short drive of each other. The site is one of the essential stops on a heritage-focused Turpan itinerary and, together with the Tuyugou caves and the collections of the Turpan Museum, it forms a complete picture of the Buddhist period of the oasis. Most international visitors reach the caves as part of a day loop from Turpan city.