Was the carved "installation" in the Grand Canyon an ancient Buddhist temple?

an ancient Buddhist temple?

by Jack Andrews

"According to the story related to the Gazette by Mr. Kinkaid, the archaeologists of the Smithsonian Institute, which is financing the expeditions, have made discoveries which almost conclusively prove that the race which inhabited this mysterious cavern, hewn in solid rock by human hands, was of oriental origin..."
- Arizona Gazette April 5, 1909

"First, I would impress that the cavern is nearly inaccessible. The entrance is 1,486 feet down the sheer canyon wall" - G. E. Kincaid 1909

Marble Canyon, Grand Canyon National Park Arizona

Was the carved "installation" in the Grand Canyon an ancient Buddhist temple? As you can see in the photos below, ancient Chinese Buddhist monks went out of there way to carve temples in just such cliff faces in remote and inaccessible cliff lined river canyons. There are other clues to the speculation that the installation may have been used for such a purpose. Broken swords and cups and other items often used in ceremonially in ancient Chinese Buddhist temples, were found in the cave in 1909. Also, the cave lies in Marble Canyon (see above photo) which is a steep limestone (and other rock) wall lined canyon. If you have been to Marble canyon you will see the similarity to the picture below.

"The Hanging or 'Mid-Air' temples on Mt. Hengshan - China, to the southeast of Datong - in the Shanxi province - cling precariously to the cliff face and illustrate determined isolation of the early Buddhist communities in China. Founded in pre-Tang Northern Wei dynasty, the temples continued to function during the Tang and were subsequently restored in the Ming and Qing dynasties". - "Tang China" by Edmund Capon and Werner Forman, MacDonald and Co. 1989

"Approximately 70 km. (45 miles) east of Turfan lie the Buddhist temples of Bezeklik, most of which were originally built in the open and joined by wooden porches. Others were carved into the living rock in the manner of cave temples. The height of activity at Bezeklik, on the evidence of surviving wall paintings, was the Tang dynasty when the Silk Road trade brought travelers, merchants and missionaries to the temples in search of sanctuary and spiritual comfort. Today they are still difficult to reach, for the monks endeavored, even here in the desert wastelands of Chinese Central Asia, to build their temples as far away as possible from the real and profane world." - "Tang China" by Edmund Capon and Werner Forman, MacDonald and Co. 1989

The Mai-Chi Caves Chinling Range, China
From "Magnificant China" Hong Kong Hua Hsia Publications 1972