The Mogao Caves are located on the
southeastern region of Dunhuang County in the province of Gansu. The Mogao grottoes, considered to be the richest abode of Buddhist art are built on the eastern slopes of the Mingshashan Mountain. These Mogao grottoes are also known as the Thousand Buddha Cave and are one of the largest and famous amongst the three popular grottoes of China.

The Mogao caves were built somewhere around the 4 th century. A Buddhist monk called

Yue Seng carved the first cave of Mongo in 366AD, during the rule of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. His attempt was carried further by the other succeeding dynasties resulting in the beautiful collection of caves.

At present the Mogao caves possesses a collection of 492 caves with 2,100 colored statues and 45,000 square meters of wall painting marked from the fourth to the fourteenth centuries. It is said that if all the wall paintings are united they would encompass a length of 30 kilometers. All the caves at the Mogao grottoes are of different size. The largest caves cover a height of 40 meters whereas the smallest ones are so small that only the head could be moved in. The colored statues symbolize the incredible creation of their creators and vary in size ranging from 33 meters high to a few centimeters only.

The Mogao caves not only hold an architectural significance but also hold political, social and religious significance. The sculptures and paintings at Mogao caves reflect upon the amalgamation and influence of Buddhism on Chinese political, social and religious culture of China. The Buddhist sutras and relics preserved at these caves offer subsequent matter on ancient Chinese religion, culture, art, politics and economy along with valuable information on Chinese science, technology and military affairs. They also describe the Chinese national history along with portraying the exchange of Chinese culture with other nations of the world.

In the year 1987, the Mogao Grottoes were put under the shelter of the world cultural heritage by UNESCO in order to preserve them as one of the famous national heritages of the world. Till date Mogao caves possess brightly colored and clearly lined wall paintings regardless of the abrasion along the years.