Buddhism actually had tremendous influences over Henan, this east province of China. The White Horse Temple in Louyang was the first Buddhist temple built in China and its Longmen Grottoes was one of the most precious treasures among the world heritage marking full glorious period of Buddhism in China during Tang Dynasty. The old temple, Shaolin Shi, world famous martial art learning center , today still is a Buddhist monastery for monks to practice Dharma.
The carving of Avatamsaka sages on a huge stone wall was one of the most wonderful piece of work in Longmen Grottoes. The face of Buddha was carved basing on the feature of the first Lady Emperor Wu-Zetian (武则天). The other great jobs include the sculpture of Buddha Amitabha. All crafted Buddhist images were innovative and each piece had its diversified uniqueness.
The carving of colored flying Deva at the stone ceiling with indication of period and signs of year is incredible.
Longmen grottoes are one of the most precious heritage in the world but it is very sad to see that images at many grottoes were either pilfered away or destroyed during China's cultural revolution under Mao's reign between 1967-1977。
The entrance of the great Luoyang Longmen Grotto.
Every one was sick but determination to pay homage to Longmen Grottoes made us moving forward.
Shao Lin Temple (少林峙) situated at the foot of Song mountain (嵩山) is a Buddhist sacred monastery. In early times, monks were thought and practiced martial arts, merely for self protection and health purposes. Such exercises becoming famous in world was entirely not expected by Master Patriarch Bodhidharma and all his disciples. Today Shaolin Temple is more popular for its Kungfu learning than practices of Buddhism.
Song Mountain where Shaolin Temple situated is lying in the heart of Henan Province. It is one of the Five Great Mountains in China and it is usually called as Zhongyue which means Central Range. Its 72 ranges around the peaks extended to about 70 km in length. Song Mountain is the birthplace of Zen Buddhism and home to many wondrous Temples, in which Shaolin-si was the most established and famous.
An Image of Master Patriarch Bodhidharma in black was engraved at a huge rock placed at the entrance. Shaolin Temple attracts and greets millions of visitors or pilgrims from all parts of the world every year.
Hitting drum accrue merit as it signifies the daily commencement of Temple activities including Kungfu practices in all categories. Training and practicing basic kungfu foundation at the foot of Song mountain in Shaolin premises, are major parts of the daily life routine for teen-aged students coming from locals and abroad.
Shaolin Monastry is not only a world well known center for learning Dharma and martial arts but also a place of attraction for all visitors to China. The young students with bright orange robe, gathered at entrance getting ready for performance to welcome President of China Mr Wen Jia Pau with his foreign guests.
Image of Patriarch Bodhidharma, the Indian great Dharma Master who faced wall for 10 years at Song Mountain, without uttering a word, established the Zen lineage (禅宗) of Shaolin Temple at early 6th century. Luohan murals (罗汉图) is one of the artifacts of Shaolin-si displayed in the shrine hall.
Main Shrine Hall of Shaolin Temple is adorned with decorative ornaments and the groups of stupa in Pagoda Forest at the foot of Song Mountain are unique. Stupa is a resting place for Shao Lin monks or Dharma masters. They were to be entombed and enshrined in Stupa after nirvana.
The modern structures within the premises of Shaolin Temple.
These two ancient Chinese calligraphy (忠义) pronounced as "zhong yi" which means faithful and loyal are two very specified character required by an ancient Chinese. It is displayed at the front part of Quan Lin temple where the head of Quan Gong being chopped off and separated from body, was buried. The red face Quan Gong was the popular warrior in the The Three Kingdom history. He is a typical symbol for faithful and loyal character till to-date, many Chinese businessmen still worship him for his great conduct.
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