The Grottos of the Great Buddha Temple are situated on the southern banks of Jinghe River, 10 kilometers west of Binxian County, Shaanxi Province.
Built in 629 in the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the Grottos of the Great Buddha Temple consist of the Great Buddha Grotto, Arhat Grotto and One-Thousand Buddha Grotto.
The Great Buddha Grotto is the center of the entire temple. The grotto's plane is semicircular, with a diameter of 42 meters and a height of 30 meters. In the center of the grotto stand three 24-meter-tall Buddha statues, 19 flying Apsaras and seven relief sculptures of sitting Buddhas. The well-padded design reveals the flavor of the early Tang Dynasty. On all four sides of the walls are small grottos containing over 400 carved Buddhas.
The Arhat Grotto to the west of the Great Buddha Grotto is smaller in scale and has with four niches. The third niche houses 60 relief sculptures and many inscriptions etched by tourists since the Tang and the Song (960-1279) Dynasties.
To the east of the Arhat Grotto is the One-Thousand Buddha Grotto, which consists of three niches. Each niche contains statues of Buddha and Bodhisattvas, and there are over 300 vivid relief sculptures carved on the walls.
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