Fahai Temple

Fahai Temple is situated on the southwestern extensions of Mountain Monkey, northeast of Jingziguan Township. The name of the temple means limitlessness of Buddhism.

According to the inscriptions on the temple tablets, it was built by Master Xifeng in 667 and rebuilt by Master Taixu in the middle of the Ming Dynasty. At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, it had been wrecked twice. In 1659 and 1666, the temple had undergone renovations. The Grand Hall and the Eastern and Western Zen Meditation Halls were restored in the years of Emperor Qianlong and Emperor Jiaqing. The Baiyi Tower suffered two wrecks in 1859 and 1864 and later was repaired.

The temple covers an area of 6,700m2. There are 24 buildings among which are 3 gates, 5 grand halls and 5 inner halls. Mainly brick-wood structures, the architectures are laid out in a simple and graceful manner.

With mountain cliffs on its back, there are two springs running from both sides to gather in front of the temple. Deep into the bamboo garden on one side, there is lively Baling Spring which makes a waterfall after running out of the garden. In the cave of the cliff before the temple, a colorful variety of rocks are scattered everywhere. There used to be a lot of naturally formed Buddha statues in the cave, so it was called the Cave of Thousands of Buddha. It is recorded on the remaining 8 tablets that the two historic sights, Fahai Temple and Xiangyan Temple (the other famous temple along the Dan River) are the two gems along the Dan River.

Publishes at : 07-12-13 20:33

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