Deep in the expansive desert landscape of Luopu county, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, sits the Rawak Temple ruins among sand dunes dotted with scattered, low shrubs.
Built around the 2nd to 3rd centuries, the relatively well-preserved ruins remained in use until the Tang Dynasty (618-907), later becoming a cultural relic on the southern routes of the ancient Silk Road. The site is one of more than 20 Buddhist temple ruins discovered in Hotan prefecture.
According to Xatnur Sadik, director of Luopu's county museum, "Rawak" means pavilions, terraces, and tall mansions in the Uygur language.
She said the Rawak Temple ruins feature a monastery complex centered around a stupa, a dome-shaped Buddhist shrine or monument. The square monastery has adobe enclosure walls, with the main gate located in the middle of the southern wall. The inverted-bowl stupa is round on top and square at the bottom, built with highly adhesive adobe bricks on a cross-shaped base.
On the inner and outer sides of the enclosure walls are painted clay sculptures of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, as well as reliefs and murals. Artifacts such as pottery shards, bronze coins, and fragments of Buddha statues have been discovered in the surrounding area.
Xatnur Sadik said many of the unearthed sculptures and murals bear the South Asian Gandhara style, offering valuable materials for studying ancient Buddhism in the region. The site has yet to undergo formal archaeological excavation, although investigations into surrounding ancient city remnants and river courses suggest it was once a bustling area.
Current preservation includes reinforcing the stupa and protective fences. Straw grids have been deployed to control wind and sand erosion, with caretakers regularly on duty.
The temple's main structure remains buried under sand. Zhang Huajie, director of the Hotan Museum, said this casing may actually protect the relics from exposure to factors like light and air, thus preventing deterioration.
According to Zhang, ancient Hotan was a flourishing Buddhist center. Buddhism entered present-day Xinjiang via the Kashmir region around the 1st century BC.
Thriving in ancient Hotan for more than a millennium, Buddhism profoundly influenced the region's politics, economy, culture, and art. Historical records indicate that the area once had numerous stupas, temples, and monasteries with a large community of monks. Some 5,000 monks resided here in its heyday.
Among the artifacts unearthed in Hotan prefecture is one of the country's oldest surviving Buddhist sutra manuscripts. Dating back to around the 2nd century, the manuscript fragment is written in ancient Kharosthi script, a writing system for the Gandhari language. Zhang believes this is compelling evidence that Hotan was among the first places in China where Buddhism was introduced.
