Skip to content

Dharma Documentaries

Dharma. Culture. Ecology.

Menu
  • Dharma
  • Culture
  • Ecology
  • Archives
  • About
Menu

The Silk Road Series 3/16: The Art-gallery in the Desert

Posted on October 29, 2010June 28, 2020 by Dharma Documentaries
This episode focuses on the magnificent Mo-gao caves at Dun-huang in the Gobi desert. In this complex, there are 500 caves and over 3,000 statues and murals. It is counted as the longest art gallery in the world.

The Art-gallery in the Desert

This episode is unusual for the series in that it focuses on just one subject, the magnificent Mo-gao caves at Dun-huang in the Gobi desert. In this complex, which stretches for more than 2 kilometres along a cliff wall, there are 500 caves and over 3,000 statues and murals. It is counted as the longest art gallery in the world.

The Art-gallery in the Desert

The caves were started in 366 AD, and developed over a period of 1,000 years as the various dynasties rose and fell around it. The documentary shows many of the statues and murals from the various caves, including Sakyamuni statues with Ananda and Kasyapa on either side; a 26-metre high Maitreya Buddha; and some beautiful murals depicting Amitabha and the Pure Lands.

I have high hopes of visiting and photographing the complex one day, though I met and spoke to one Chinese visitor when I was at Angkor recently and he told me that many of the caves are still not open to the public.

if the video does not appear on the page, please first try reloading the page, and if that doesn’t work, leave a comment so I can update the page (the comment is not published)

TAGS:
Culture, Dharma, China, History, NHK Silk Road, Silk Road, Temples, Vajrayana

1 thought on “The Silk Road Series 3/16: The Art-gallery in the Desert”

  1. R Gopu says:
    January 24, 2021 at 10:10 pm

    Wonderful video. Thanks for the link

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Comments do not appear straight away, but are moderated before publication

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search

Subscriptions

Follow our Facebook Page Follow our Tweets Subscribe to our Feed

Subscribe by Email

Email


Shortlink and QR

https://dharma-documentaries.net/b/2Mz

Donations

This site has taken more than a dozen years and 1000s of hours to build, and has 800+ documentaries on it. If you would like to help, you can do so here. Even small amounts make a difference.

Copyright

If anyone has any copyright claims please contact me at dharmadocus@gmail.com and the posts and films will be immediately removed.

Top Ten Tags

Theravada
Mahayana
Vajrayana

India
Silk Road
China
Tibet

Arts
Lectures
Rights

Related Posts

  • The Silk Road Series 6/16: Across The Taklamakan Desert
  • The Silk Road Series 4/16: The Dark Castle
  • The Silk Road Series 2/16: A Thousand Kilometres Beyond The Yellow River
  • The Silk Road Series 11/16: Where Horses Fly Like the Wind
  • The Silk Road Series 10/16: Journey Into Music, South Through the Tian Shan Mountains
  • The Silk Road Series 8/16: A Heat Wave Called Turfan
  • The Silk Road Series 7/16: Khotan-Oasis of Silk and Jade
  • The Silk Road Series 5/16: In Search of the Kingdom of Lou-lan
  • The Silk Road Series 1/16: The Glories of Chang-an
  • The Silk Road Series 15/16: Legendary Ladakh

Recent Posts

  • Tours of the Caves of Dunhuang
  • Angkor Wat, Ancient Hydraulic City
  • The Magical Mountain of Tibet
  • Lords of Water
  • Radioactive Waste, A Nuclear Nightmare
  • Beyond Boundaries, Buddhist Art of Gandhāra
  • The Story of Sudhana, Gallery, Level 4
  • The Story of Sudhana, Balustrade, Level 4
  • The Story of Sudhana, Balustrade, Level 3
  • The Story of Sudhana, Gallery 3, 45-88

Random Posts

  • The Biography of Sakyamuni Buddha
  • A Force More Powerful 03, South Africa
  • In the Footsteps of Great Tibetan Yogi Milarepa
  • Kharkhorin & Erdene Zuu Hyid (Expoza)
  • The Cross and the Bodhi Tree
  • The Journey of Xuanzang 3 & 4
  • Just a Human Being, The Dalai Lama in Bodh Gaya
  • Dorothy Wong, Buddhist Pilgrim-Monks, 2
  • Anagarika Dharmapala
  • Before the Flood
© 2023 Dharma Documentaries | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme