The ancient complex was a center of commerce and contained dozens of Buddhist temples and works of art that remained hidden for centuries.
Geographer Sven Hedin set out on a journey from the Chinese city of Khotan (present-day Hotan) in 1900 and discovered a fascinating Buddhist complex, much more complex than the ruins of an ordinary ancient city he expected to find.
The village was built with a poplar log structure, which gave buildings a distinctive whitish color. For this reason, the place became known to locals as Dandan-Oilik, which means “ivory houses”, explains .
As he walked around the site, Hedin made out the outlines of square and oblong shaped buildings, with the interior of each divided into several rooms.
They were still poles about 3 meters highwhere they would once have supported a roof or even a second floor. The group found traces of many dwellings, covering an estimated area of about one and a half square kilometers.
It is very difficult to dig in the dry sand that surrounds the site, making it difficult to find out more about this mysterious city. Hedin referred to her as “Hedin referred to her as”this city cursed by Godthis second Sodom in the desert” and believed, mistakenly, that it was about 2,000 years old. In truth, the city prospered from the 6th century AD
The most incredible of all Hedin’s finds were thes exquisite Indo-Persian style paintings that decorated some of the interiors. Hedin identified these structures, larger than the rest, as Buddhist temples.
The paintings peeled off at the slightest touch. Hedin drew them the best he could and, living up to the colonialist mentality of the time, took other objects, such as stucco sculptures and reliefs.
He later wrote: “All these finds and many other relics were carefully wrapped and packed in my boxes; and the most complete notes possible on the ancient city… were recorded in my diary“.
Years later, the Persian and Sanskrit scholar Marc Aurel Stein He decided to take a trip to the place himself.
Found out that 14 Buddhist temples had once filled the city. They consisted of a cella (the sacred part of a temple) in the center, which was nested within a larger structure.
Among the works of art were even magnificent figures of Buddhas in stucco and well-preserved paintings on wooden boards.
Stein believed that the city’s decline could be linked to the fact that China had lost administrative control of the region during this period. However, one thing is certain: the city was an important center of trade during the Silk Road period.
In the 700s AD, the prosperous city, full of commerce, art and temples, ended up being forever abandoned and eaten by the sand of the Chinese desert. But it leaves memories.
