After four months of closed repair, the largest cave in the Yungang Grottoes, the third cave, officially opened to the public on the 15th.
The caves opened this time include the first to fourth caves of Yungang Grottoes. On July 10, 2021, the staff implemented dangerous rock reinforcement and drainage engineering for the four caves, and completed on-site construction half a month ago.
Inside the first cave of Yungang Grottoes.
Inside the first cave of Yungang Grottoes.
The first and second caves are the easternmost caves of the Yungang Grottoes, forming a group of double caves. The first cave, commonly known as the “Stone Drum Cave”, retains the poem “You Yungang Stone Buddha Temple” inscribed by Zhu Tinghan from the Qing Dynasty on the east side of the outer wall window. The second cave, commonly known as the “Cold Spring Cave,” is named after a fine spring that flows out from the western end of its northern wall year-round.
The third largest cave in Yungang Grottoes.
The third largest cave in Yungang Grottoes.
The third cave, also known as the Lingyan Temple Cave, is the largest cave in Yungang Grottoes. The overall cave is tall and magnificent, with two doors and four windows. There is a huge platform built on the outside, and in the center of the platform is a rectangular cave with intersecting Maitreya, commonly known as the “Maitreya Cave”.
The fourth cave is the Pagoda Temple Cave, and the four walls inside the cave are severely weathered. There is an inscription on the south wall of the cave, about 100 words long, from the Zhengguang period of the Northern Wei Dynasty, which is the latest Northern Wei statue inscription in the Yungang Grottoes.
Yungang Research Institute stated in the announcement that in order to strengthen epidemic prevention and control management, visitors from other provinces and those with a history of traveling outside the province must proactively report to the scenic area and present a negative nucleic acid test certificate within 48 hours. (Reporter Hu Jian)