Bezeklik is cut into the cliff of a side valley of the Flaming Mountains about fifty kilometres north-east of Turpan, on the road to the ruins of Gaochang. The caves were excavated from roughly the sixth century onward and were in use for seven or eight hundred years; under the Uyghur kingdom of Gaochang, from the ninth century, the site became a royal temple complex and the most important Buddhist centre of the Turpan basin. Fifty-seven caves survive, though only a fraction can be entered.
The paintings
The wall painting is the reason to come, and its subject matter is unusual. Alongside the standard assemblies of Buddhas, the artists painted large processional scenes in which kings, queens and noble donors appear in the richly coloured robes of the period, offering their kingdoms or listening to the teaching. The figures are drawn with a bold outline and a strong sense of bulk, and the palette is warm - reds, ochres, greens and a deep blue. The Uyghur donors in their tall hats are among the best surviving portraits of the court that commissioned them. Manichaean subjects also appear in the earlier caves, a reminder that the Uyghur elite followed that religion before Buddhism.
What happened to the paintings
Between about 1904 and the First World War, German expeditions led by Albert von Le Coq cut large sections of murals out of the walls at Bezeklik and other sites in the region and shipped them to Berlin. The best material went on display there, and a great deal of it was destroyed when the museum was hit in the bombing of 1945. The loss is one of the saddest stories in Silk Road archaeology, and the empty rectangles you see on the walls today are where those panels were removed. A number of pieces that survived are held in museums in Berlin and elsewhere.
Practical notes
There is no public transport; Bezeklik is visited by car as part of a loop with Gaochang and the Astana tombs, all on the same road roughly half an hour from Turpan city. The caves are cool and dark inside, several are locked, and photography within them is generally not permitted, so bring nothing you would be reluctant to leave in the car. The heat outside in summer is severe and there is almost no shade, so an early start is worth the effort.
