Kizil Cave 38

CHINA, Xinjiang, Aksu

This cave is located in the west valley, and was constructed during the 4th century. It is a central pillar cave, made up of an antechamber, main chamber, and corridors. The antechamber has mostly collapsed but has a corridor in the middle of the back wall which leads to the main chamber. There are also corridors on each side of the back wall of the main chamber which connect to form the central pillar.
A Buddha niche is cut into the central pillar on the back wall of the main chamber. No statues remain within the niche. Neat chisel marks can be found on the back wall, which originally formed diamond-shaped depictions of Mount Sumeru, continuous with the diamond-shaped illustrations on the cave’s ceiling. The cave has a barrel-vaulted ceiling, and its central ridge divides the ceiling into left and right sections. Astrological symbols are found on the central ridge, and rows of diamond-shaped illustrations from both the Jatakas and the karma stories are found on the left and right sections. Each row contains seven to nine illustrations. There is a corbel layer between the ceiling and both walls, and beneath the corbel are decorative illustrations of aquatic animals and jewels. Seven sets of heavenly musicians are displayed on the upper left and right walls, each set composed of two figures, one dark and one light, who play instruments, dance, or scatter flowers. The music and dance images consist of a total of 28 figures on both walls. Three large illustrations from the karma stories and the Life of the Buddha are depicted at the bottom of each side wall.
An illustration on the semicircular wall above the entrance of the main chamber portrays Maitreya Bodhisattva Teaching the Dharma, a consistent feature of the central pillar caves. There are arched niches, which no longer contain statues, cut into the center of the walls on either side of the doorway.. Bodhisattva illustrations seem to have originally adorned the top of the niches, but currently only illustrations of Bodhisattvas in Contemplation remain, one on each corner of the mural.
Series of seven pagodas with seated Buddhas are found on all the walls of the left and right corridors, while on each side of the central pillar are illustrations of four more pagodas with seated Buddhas. There are two arched niches, both bereft of statues, cut into the top of the wall behind the pillar. Diamond-shaped depictions of mountains adorn the exterior of the niches on both sides, beneath which are a series of five pagodas containing reliquaries. The illustration of Parinirvana is found on the outer wall of the rear corridor.
There are numerous inscriptions inside the cave, including a horizontal row of Brahmi characters at the top of the right niche on the front wall, and a horizontal inscription in the Chagatai script on the top of the left wall within the main chamber. A horizontal row of ochre Brahmi characters are located on the wall in the left corridor, and four horizontal rows of Cyrillic script can be seen on the wall of the right corridor.