Kumtura Caves

{{Short description|Buddhist site in Xinjiang, China}}

{{Infobox ancient site

|name = Kumtura Caves

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|image = Kuntula Grottoes 1, Kuqa.jpg

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|caption = Kumtula Grottoes

|map_type = China Xinjiang#China

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|coordinates = {{coord|41.7117|N|82.6784|E|display=inline, title|region:CN_type:city_source:unesco}}

|location = Xinjiang, China

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The Kumtura Thousand Buddha Caves ({{lang-zh|t=庫木吐喇千佛洞|s={{linktext|库|木|吐|喇|千|佛|洞}}|p=Kùmùtǔlǎ Qiānfódòng}}) (also Qumtura; Uyghur: {{lang|ug|قۇمتۇرا}}) is a Buddhist cave temple site in the Autonomous Region of Xinjiang, China. The site is located some 25 km west of Kucha, Kuqa County, on the ancient Silk Road.{{cite book |url=http://www.getty.edu/conservation/publications_resources/pdf_publications/pdf/2nd_silkroad1.pdf |title=Conservation of Ancient Sites on the Silk Road: Proceedings of the Second International Conference |editor=Agnew, Neville |year=2010 |publisher=Getty Conservation Institute |isbn=9781606060131 |pages=37–9| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20240416101436/https://www.getty.edu/conservation/publications_resources/pdf_publications/pdf/2nd_silkroad1.pdf | archivedate = 2024-04-16 | url-status = dead}}{{cite book |script-title=zh:库木吐喇石窟内容总录 |trans-title=A general record of the Kumtura caves |language=zh |editor=Wang Weidong |publisher=文物出版社 |year=2008 |isbn=9787501023844}} Other famous sites nearby are the Kizilgaha caves, the Kizil Caves, Subashi Temple and the Simsim caves.(Other than Kizil)... "The nearby site of Kumtura contains over a hundred caves, forty of which contain painted murals or inscriptions. Other cave sites near Kucha include Subashi, Kizilgaha, and Simsim." in {{cite book |last1=Buswell |first1=Robert E. |last2=Lopez |first2=Donald S. |title=The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism |date=24 November 2013 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-4805-8 |page=438 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DXN2AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA438 |language=en}}

112 cave temples survive, dating from the fifth to the eleventh centuries. Damaged by occasional habitation after abandonment of the site, Kumtura was visited by a number of the early foreign expeditions to Chinese Central Asia, including the 1902 Ōtani expedition, Oldenburg, and Le Coq.{{cite web |url=http://idp.bl.uk/pages/collections_jp.a4d |title=Japanese Collections |publisher=International Dunhuang Project |access-date=28 April 2012}}{{cite web |url=http://idp.bl.uk/pages/collections_de.a4d |title=Russian Collections |publisher=International Dunhuang Project |access-date=28 April 2012}}{{cite web |url=http://idp.bl.uk/pages/collections_ru.a4d |title=German Collections |publisher=International Dunhuang Project |access-date=28 April 2012}}{{cite book |title=Foreign Devils on the Silk Road: The Search for the Lost Cities and Treasures of Chinese Central Asia |author=Hopkirk, Peter |year=1984 |author-link=Peter Hopkirk |publisher=University of Massachusetts Press |isbn=0870234358 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780870234354 }} The last detached several wall paintings and took them back to Berlin (now at the Museum für Asiatische Kunst).{{cite web |url=http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/museums/mia/kumtura.html |title=MIA Kumtura Collection |publisher=University of Washington |access-date=28 April 2012}}

Construction of the Dongfang Hong Hydroelectric Plant in the 1970s caused the water level of the Muzat River to rise and has increased the rate of decay of the wall paintings. Long-term preservation measures under the auspices of UNESCO began in 1999 with extensive documentation and survey work and consolidation of the conglomerate rock from which the caves are excavated.{{cite web |url=http://www.unescobej.org/culture/world-heritage/kumtura-thousand-buddha-caves-conservation-project/ |title=The Conservation and Restoration of Kumtura Thousand Buddha Caves |publisher=UNESCO |access-date=28 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130118204751/http://www.unescobej.org/culture/world-heritage/kumtura-thousand-buddha-caves-conservation-project/ |archive-date=18 January 2013 |url-status=dead }} The site was among the first to be designated for protection in 1961 as a Major National Historical and Cultural Site.{{cite web|url=http://www.sach.gov.cn/tabid/96/InfoID/16/frtid/134/Default.aspx |title=国务院关于公布第一批全国重点文物保护单位名单的通知 (1st Designations) |date=3 April 1961 |publisher=State Administration of Cultural Heritage |language=zh |access-date=28 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120609132452/http://www.sach.gov.cn/tabid/96/InfoID/16/frtid/134/Default.aspx |archive-date= 9 June 2012 }} In 2008 Kumtula Grottoes was submitted for future inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the Chinese Section of the Silk Road.{{cite web |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5335/ |title=Chinese Section of the Silk Road |publisher=UNESCO |access-date=28 April 2012}}