Buddha of Brightness in Longmen Grottoes-2

In the Tang Dynasty, Empress Wu(r. 690-704), sponsored the construction of the largest of the Longmen Grottoes- the Temple of Ancestral Worship. Inside the temple is a hugestatue of Sambhoga-kaya Buddha, or the Buddha of Brightness, which took threeyears to finish. On the day of its completion, Empress Wu led her ministers tothe consecration ceremony, one of the most important cultural events of the Tang Dynasty.