Travel Guide - Lingyin Temple of Soul‘s Retreat Hangzhou

Ancient Chinese religious culture is deeply indebted to Buddhism. From mountains to valleys, you can see lots of different Buddhist temples China travel service, pagodas and their religious teachings and preaching centers. The fact that temples spread across the country shows the immense influence of Buddhism on Chinese culture. Almost all of rulers in ancient ages contributed their power to support the religion by building temples, steles, erecting huge statues of Buddha and engraving Buddha thoughts in those temples and walls. Lingyin Temple is one of the most famous temples that enjoy a high reputation in China. The temple is located in the northwest of West Lake in Hangzhou Zhejiang province. It was built during Eastern Jin Dynasty in 328AD and has a long history of more than 1600 years.

The temple lies between the Fei Lai Peak China travel service and the West Lake. This is a fantastic temple which outsmarts all other Buddhist temples in architectural field. As a result, this temple is considered as one of the ten most famous temples in China. Today, this temple is scheduled as a historically protected complex area and a research for Chinese Buddhist culture.

The ceiling of the halls is painted with dragons and phoenixes. On either side of the Maitreya, ‘Four Heavenly Kings’ are painted. Another interesting thing you can see is the laughing Buddha with a large belly and an inscription of 'endure all intolerances and laugh at every laughable person in the world.' The Great Hall of Hero is located beyond the courtyard in Da Xiong Bao Dian. Due to its huge structure, double eave roof with a pinnacle of 33.6 meters, this is considered as the largest single storey construction with historical importance in China China Holidays . In the hall, a 24.8-meter height Sakyamuni statue is placed which is carved out of camphor wood. This is the largest gold covered wooden statue in China. Twenty disciple saints are flanked on the side of the statue. Along the hall wall you can see an additional 12 statues who are the guards to protect Sakyamuni. All these statues are lifelike.

A payment of CNY 30 per head for Temple Soul's Retreat is needed and CNY 45 per head for Peak Flown From Afar. The temple opens from 7:00 am to 6:15 pm throughout the day. Bus services and tourist special bus services are operating from the city to the temple China travel deals .