sanbao ji.Thus, despite the wealth of invaluable his-
torical material they contain, not all catalogues, or the
attributions included therein, are uniformly depend-
able. Their data must be used cautiously, by thoroughly
cross-referencing information found in the different
extant catalogues.
See also:Apocrypha; Printing Technologies
Bibliography
Hayashiya Tomojiro. Kyoroku kenkyu(Studies on Buddhist Cat-
alogues). Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1941.
Kawaguchi Gisho. Chugoku Bukkyo ni okeru kyoroku kenkyu
(Studies on Buddhist Catalogues in Chinese Buddhism). Ky-
oto: Hozokan, 2000.
Tokuno, Kyoko. “The Evaluation of Indigenous Scriptures in
Chinese Buddhist Bibliographical Catalogues.” In Chinese
Buddhist Apocrypha,ed. Robert E. Buswell, Jr. Honolulu:
University of Hawaii Press, 1990.
KYOKOTOKUNOCAVE SANCTUARIES
Cave sanctuaries are manmade structures built into
natural or excavated caves in the side of a mountain,
canyon wall or cliff. Found in India and Afghanistan,
at various sites along the SILKROADin CENTRALASIA,
and in China, cave sanctuaries range from single cham-
bers to enormous monastic compounds that include
halls for worship and teaching, living quarters for
monks and travelers, and spaces such as kitchens and
libraries. As way stations for travelers, these sites played
an important role in the development and dissemina-
tion of Buddhism.
The genesis of cave sanctuaries is unclear. They may
have their roots in the ancient Indic tradition of as-
ceticism, whose adherents had long made use of such
natural structures in pursuit of their renunciatory
lifestyles. The earliest rock-cut caves in India were ex-
cavated in the third century B.C.E. during the rule of
AS ́OKAat sites such as Lomas Rishi and Sudama in Bi-
har province. It should be noted that an inscription on
the entrance to the Lomas Rishi cave states that it was
dedicated for the use of the Ajvakas, a prominent as-
cetic group. Both Lomas Rishi and Sudama were sim-
ple structures consisting of an inner circular chamber
housing a STUPA, and a rectangular outer hall, pre-
sumably a place where devotees could congregate for
lectures and other forms of teaching.
Located about 105 miles south of Bombay, the
caitya or worship hall at Bhajais more complicated.
Extending about sixty feet into the mountainside and
approximately twenty-nine feet high, it consists of an
apsidal chamber bracketed by tall columns on both
sides. The wooden ribs appended to the ceilings of the
central and side aisles have no structural purpose but
reflect the use of prototypes of wood, bamboo, and
thatch in the construction of the earliest cave sanctu-
aries. The columns help to define the path for tradi-
tional circumambulation (pradaksina) of the stupa
placed at the rear of the chamber. Vihara 19 at the same
site consists of two large inner chambers that were used
communally and smaller individual quarters. Each cell
contains a raised rock-cut bed with a pillow and a small
niche in the wall used for holding a lantern.The caitya hall at Karli was built between 50 and 75
C.E. It is 124 feet long, 46.5 feet wide, and 45 feet high,
and contains thirty-six columns capped with couples
seated on kneeling elephants. The façade was elabo-
rately carved with a large horseshoe-shaped arch that
defined the primary window.Twenty major sites and numerous minor sites pa-
tronized by individual travelers and wealthy artistic
and commercial guilds were constructed in western In-
dia from 100 B.C.E. to 200 C.E. However, the region is
best known for AJANTA, a group of twenty-six caves
built by the ruling elite on both sides of the Waghora
River in the late fifth century C.E. Ajantais renowned
for its delicate but powerful sculptures, such as those
seen on the façade of cave 19, and its extraordinarily
beautiful wall paintings, many of which record events
from the past lives (JATAKA) of the historical Buddha,
S ́akyamuni. Representations of bodhisattvas, worship
images in the residential halls, and the addition of
seated buddhas at the front of the stupas in the caitya
halls illustrate contemporaneous changes in Buddhist
thought. Other important centers in western India are
found at Aurangabad and in some structures at Ellora.
MANDALA-like compositions, female deities, and the
depiction of bodhisattvas with multiple heads in the
sixth- and seventh-century caves at Aurangabad reflect
further changes in the religion.Noted for its (now destroyed) colossi, BAMIYAN
(mid-sixth to seventh century C.E.) in Afghanistan is
the most extensive Buddhist site in that country. One
of the enormous standing buddhas was about 183 feet
high, while the other measured about 127 feet. The
famous seventh-century Chinese pilgrim XUANZANG
(ca. 600–664) records a third colossus, representing aCAVESANCTUARIES