The Maijishan Grottoes are a series of 194 caves cut in the side of the hill of Majishan in northwest China. Construction began in the Later Qin era (384–417 CE) and extended over 12 dynasties at Maijishan: over the course of the Later Qin, Northern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Zhou, Sui, Tang, Period of the Five Dynasties, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing.

Although the region has fallen victim to many earthquakes and other natural and man-made disasters, 194 caves remain, encompassing 7200 pieces of Buddhist sculpture, and 1000 square meters (10 763 sq.ft) of frescoes, all excavated on a cliff face 30 to 80 meters above ground.

Caves #1–50 are on the western cliff face; caves #51–191 on the eastern cliff face. These numbers were given the caves by the original 1952–53 Chinese archaeological team.

The name Maijishan consists of three Chinese words (麦积山) that literally translate as "Wheatstack Mountain". The mountain is formed of purplish red sandstone.

Cave shrines in China probably served two purposes: originally, before Buddhism came to China, they may have been used as local shrines to worship one's ancestors or various nature deities. With the coming of Buddhism to China, however, influenced by the long tradition of cave shrines from India and Central Asia, they became part of China's religious architecture.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org