Mysterious Mysteries of 2000-year-old Caves on the Precipice of 50m

The Kingdom of Mustang on the steep cliffs surrounding the Gandaki River is one of the most remote areas of Nepal in the Himalayas. Mustang contains a lot of mysteries, one of which is thousands of ancient caves dating back 2,000 years to a steep cliff.

Key Facts About Caves

Before being annexed to Nepal in the 1950s, Mustang was a Tibetan Buddhist kingdom so its culture and language were still very close to Tibetan culture and still well preserved to this day.

The caves in Mustang are located on a steep vertical cliff, almost perpendicular to the ground, even with caves located at a height of more than 50 meters. No one knows how they were created because the way up is difficult to go even for experienced climbers.

Why Caves Matters

It was discovered that more than 10,000 caves existed on the cliff, most of them were empty, but in some caves there were still traces of people living there like fire, bedroom and grain storage.

Some caves dating back more than 2,000 years are used as tombs. Researchers have discovered remains of the past three to eight centuries ago.

In other caves, many valuable Buddhist monuments such as carvings, manuscripts, and crafts. date back to the 13th century. This shows the richness and artistic beauty of Tibetan Buddhist tradition as well as the level of artists of the time.

Buddha image was discovered inside the cave.

According to scientists, the use of caves in Mustang can be divided into three stages.

• 3000 years ago, they were used to bury the dead.
• In the 10th century, some other caves were used as residences. Residents living here can avoid war.
• Since the 15th century, caves have been used as warehouses, military observation stations or isolated places to practice meditation.

Inside a cave.

The carvings of Buddhism in a cave.

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