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<< Our Photo Pages >> Mor Stupas - Ancient Temple in China

Submitted by DrewParsons on Wednesday, 07 July 2010  Page Views: 7416

Multi-periodSite Name: Mor Stupas Alternative Name: Ha Noi, Hanoi
Country: China
NOTE: This site is 105.313 km away from the location you searched for.

Type: Ancient Temple
Nearest Town: Kashgar
Latitude: 39.620000N  Longitude: 76.250000E
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
2 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
4 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
1 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
2

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Mor Stupas
Mor Stupas submitted by DrewParsons : On of the two Mor Buddhist stupas in the desert near Kashgar. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Ancient Buddhist Stupas in the desert near Kashgar, Xinjiang, Western China

Mor Stupa is located approximately 38 kilometres north east of Kashgar along a bumpy track and in the middle of nowhere. Set in the desert at the start of the amazingly arid Taklamakan Desert it is a site for history enthusiasts rather than tourists. There are two Buddhist stupas near the location of the 7th century AD Tang Dynasty town of Ha Noi, a Shule military governship centre. The only remnants of this town nowadays are a few traces of its defensive walls. The two stupas have been variously ascribed dates from the 3rd century AD to the 7th century AD, although they may be earlier as they are on the route that Buddhism took on its journey from India and Ghandhara into China, as early as the 2nd century AD. Xuang Zang the Buddhist roving monk passed this way in 644 AD and noted the many Buddhist temples in the Kashgar region and as Mor was an important religious centre at that time, it is likely he visited the site.

The introduction of Islam into the area and a fire at some stage saw the demise of the temples, whilst changing climate saw wells dry up and the area finally abandoned in the 10th century AD. Our trip to the site confirmed the aridity of the area nowadays too.

Of the two stupas, the egg shaped one is built on five square stepped platforms and is 12 metres high with a hollow centre, whilst the second stupa is 7 metres high. Both are built of sun dried bricks, now melded into a somewhat amorphous mass. During its time the higher of the two stupas has also been viewed as a beacon for travellers along this branch of the ancient Silk Road, a route which led us to visit it during a trip from Peshawar to Bukhara from October to November in 1996. Its latter era name of Mor may be a corruption of the Uyghur word mordun meaning "chimney" as signal towers were once used with fires to guide travellers along the way through the desert.

References:
Focus on Xinjiang, Jun Feng, Hong Kong China Tourism Press, Hong Kong, July 1995
Central Asia, Giles Whittell, Cadogan Books, London 1996
Dust in the Wind: Retracing Dharma Master Zuang Zang's Western Pilgrimage, Wang Tuanchen, Rhythms Monthly, Taipei, 2006

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Mor Stupas
Mor Stupas submitted by durhamnature : Old photo from "Through the deserts of Asia..." via archive.org Site in China (Vote or comment on this photo)

Mor Stupas
Mor Stupas submitted by DrewParsons : A view across the desert showing both stupas. We visited this remote site during a two month trip by public transport and hitch hiking between Pashawar and Bukhara in 1996. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Mor Stupas
Mor Stupas submitted by DrewParsons : A close up view of the lower of the two stupas. (Vote or comment on this photo)

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