About Kizil Caves

The Kizil Caves are a set of Buddhist rock-cut caves located near Kizil Township in Baicheng County, Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang, China. The site is located on the northern bank of the Muzat River 65 kilometres west of Kucha. This area was a commercial hub of the Silk Road. The caves have an important role in Central Asian art and in the Silk Road transmission of Buddhism, and are said to be the earliest major Buddhist cave complex in China, with development occurring between the 3rd and 8th centuries CE. The caves of Kizil are the earlier of their type in China, and their model was later adopted in the construction of Buddhist caves further east. Another name for the site has been Ming-oi, although this term is now mainly used for the site of Shorchuk to the east.
Buddha statue in Borobudur (Indonesia), the world's largest Buddhist temple.

Different types of Buddhist architecture

Buddhist religious architecture developed in the Indian subcontinent. Three types of structures are associated with the religious architecture of early Buddhism: (viharas), places to venerate relics (), and shrines or prayer halls, which later came to be called in some places. The initial function of a was the veneration and safe-guarding of the relics of Gautama Buddha. The earliest archaeologically known example of a stupa is the relic stupa located in Vaishali, .