Zhangye Great Buddha Temple
- Chinese name: 张掖大佛寺
- Location: Dafo Temple Lane, Minzhu West Street, Ganzhou District, Zhangye City 张掖市甘州区民主西街大佛寺巷
- Opening hours: 08:30-17:00 all year round
- Attraction level: National AAAA tourist attraction
- Ticket price: 40 yuan
- Covering an area: more than 30,000 square meters
- Famous attractions: Great Buddha Hall, Buddhist Art Exhibition Hall, Earthen Pagoda, etc.
- The era: Western Xia, Qing Dynasty
- Official telephone: 0936-8222048, 0936-8212049
Zhangye Great Buddha Temple
History Background
Zhangye Great Buddha Temple is located in the urban area of Zhangye City. It was built in the Yong’an period of the Xixia Dynasty and has a history of more than 900 years. The Great Buddha Temple is famous for the largest indoor clay sculpture reclining Buddha in the country. There are also ancient buildings with unique characteristics such as earthen pagodas and Shanxi guild halls, which can be visited and worshiped. There are also exhibitions in the temple to help tourists understand the art of Buddhism and the Great Buddha Temple. History. The Big Buddha Temple is now the most important tourist attraction in Zhangye City and one of Zhangye’s iconic attractions. You can visit it when you visit Zhangye.
Architecture Layout
The existing Dafo Temple is not large, about 200 meters deep and 100 meters wide. Enter from the Big Buddha Temple Square on the west side and walk around. From west to east, the main buildings that can be visited in the Great Buddha Temple are the Great Buddha Hall, the Hall of All Saints (now the Buddhist Art Exhibition Hall), the Cangjing Hall (now the Buddhist Scripture Exhibition Hall), the Tuta and the Shanxi Guild Hall. Visit them one by one That’s it, the tour takes about 1-2 hours.
Focus of the visit
The Great Buddha Hall is the most important building in the temple, and it is also the focus of tourists. The hall is dominated by the largest indoor clay sculpture reclining Buddha in China. The reclining Buddha is shaped according to the image of the Buddha Sakyamuni when he was in Nirvana. The Buddha is 34.5 meters long and 7.5 meters wide. Just one finger of the big Buddha can For one person lying flat, one ear can accommodate 10 people sitting side by side, which is quite large. In addition to the giant Buddha, there are many statues of ten disciples and eighteen arhats in the hall. In addition, there are murals recording Journey to the West and The Classic of Mountains and Seas, all of which are very exquisite.
The Hall of All Saints and the Hall of Sutras
The Hall of All Saints and the Hall of Sutras are located in the middle, and now the two halls are respectively equipped with a Buddhist art exhibition hall and a Buddhist scriptures exhibition hall, which display numerous Buddha statue sculptures, grotto statues, classics and scriptures, etc., with text and picture descriptions, Here you can learn about the art of Buddhism and the glorious history of the Great Buddha Temple. Among the exhibits, the more than 6,000 volumes of Buddhist scriptures bestowed by Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty are the most famous, many of which are written in pure gold, which is the treasure of the Great Buddha Temple.
The earthen pagoda
The earthen pagoda is located on the east side of the Great Buddha Hall. The earthen pagoda is more than 30 meters high. The base of the earthen pagoda has two floors, and there are four small pagodas on each floor.
The Shanxi Guild Hall
The Shanxi Guild Hall is on the northeast side of the entire Great Buddha Temple. This is a typical Northwest residential house. The ancient buildings are carved with carved beams and painted columns, which is very simple and beautiful.
Zhangye Great Buddha Temple
