A cliff-hanging complex of temples Oct 19, 2020

A cliff-hanging complex of temples

Feast your eyes on the colorful Mati Si (Horse"s Hoof Temple) and its cliffside complex of sandstone grottoes and wooden pavilions. An indentation in the sandstone provides a clue to the mythical origin of the temple. One legend has it that a frightened longma—a winged dragon horse—visited here thousands of years ago and left its hoof mark in the rock as it landed. What you can"t see in our homepage image is the narrow network of tunnels cut into the cliff, connecting the seven floors and multiple grottoes to the Mati Si pagoda, which is 200 feet high and holds hundreds of Buddha statues.

© Ana Flašker/Alamy

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