Dongpo Noodles at the Lingyin Temple

It is normal for Buddhist temples to have a restaurant in their premises, particularly the more popular ones. The restaurant at the monastery at Lantau Island in Hong Kong was probably the first one I have ever visited. Devout Buddhist tend to abstain from meat, but this doesn’t mean that they can’t look like meat. As visitors of this blog can see, I am very much a meat eater and a vegetarian place is somewhere far from my places to visit. However, in this case were already way past lunch time and we were starving.

Vegetarian Noodles My Friend Ordered

The restaurant at the Lingyin Temple serves mock meat in their restaurant. These are usually made from flour or soy and shaped to look, smell and feel like normal meat. I ordered their Dongpo noodles wondering how it would taste like. Real Dongpo Pork is actually braised pork belly, in this case, the mock meat was quite convincing upon first glance. But one bite and you will be brought back to reality as it has a certain almost rubbery texture. The noodles are all just ordinary noodles, just the ingredients were different. There was a selection of ready ingredients at the claiming counter and the staff will just scoop out some and mix it together with the noodles. I still don’t look for vegetarian food such as these but this one was still okay for me.

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Buddhist Statue at the Hall of the Five Hundred Arhats 五百罗汉堂

I thought the Huayan Hall was the last of the halls we were to visit, however there was yet one more hall which we were to visit. The colorfully named Hall of the Five Hundred Arhats 五百罗汉堂 is true to its name, as it literally houses five hundred arhats. The hall itself is unique because it was shaped like a Buddhist swastika. The five hundred arhats are placed on the arms of the swastika. The statues themselves were impressive as each one of them is unique. They were also made of bronze. Which makes it probably the large collection of bronze sculptures I have ever seen.

Just a Fraction of the Five Hundred Arhats

At the center of the hall is a small pavillion which houses four Buddhists which signify the four directions. Interestingly, this is probably the tallest bronze sculpture in the world. The entire pavillion including the Buddha statues are made of solid bronze. The hall itself was another reconstruction from the year 1994. We didn’t really go through all of the five hundred arhats since we can’t identify them anyway. It was nonetheless very impressive to see such concentration of bronze sculptures in one place and mind you, there statues were not small.

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One of the Sakyamuni Trinity in Buddhism at the Huayan Hall 华严殿

Unlike the previous hall, the Huanyan Hall actually houses at Buddhist statue. But before that, there was a special feature just outside the Huayan Hall, this one has a small “garden” with some scupltures. Actually, one of the sculptures was a replica of a mountain – Chinese style. The mountain has a small passageway which makes it looks like a cave, but it actually leads all the way into the platform where the Huayan Hall was built on.

The Sakyamuni Trinity at the Huayan Hall 华严殿

Anyway, inside the Huayan Hall, there were three primary Buddhist statues. The statues are of Sakyamuni, Manjusri and Samantabhadra. Sakyamuni was the historical Buddha, Manjusri is associated with wisdom and Samatabhadra is associated with the practice of Buddhism. Together they form the Sakyamuni trinity – similar to the Holy Trinity of Christianity. Unlike the Grand Hall of the Great Sage, the statues here in the Huayan Hall were colored in more realistic tones – that is if you ignore the hair, which was still blue.

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Huayan Hall Small 华严殿

The Huayan Hall is the fifth and final hall in the Lingyin Temple grounds. There are normally five halls built in a temple and like the third and fourth hall this one was also built very recently. There is actually little to distinguish the Huanyan Hall from the preceeding halls as they are all very similar. The difference is in what the halls host. By this time I was already sick of the temple. This reminded me of the time I visited the Forbidden City in Beijing where it was just one hall after the other. This was is similar but on a much smaller scale.

Small Cave at the Base of the Huayan Hall 华严殿

My friend was again breezing past the hall as she was probably more sick of the temple than I was and to think it was her first time in China. I’m no history buff either and I do like to see old structures such as these but I probably already had enough temples for a next few years. The fact that it is a newly rebuilt hall also helps lesssen my interest level in this temple. My advice to visitors, if you are no history buff, go through the halls quickly or you get bored quickly.

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Detailed Work on a Vase at the Sutra Library 藏经楼 at the Lingyin Temple 灵隐寺

By this time I was already getting temple fatigue. My friend who has been just pushing through everything in the Lingyin Temple, only stopping once in a while to look at something interesting. I won’t be surprised if she wasn’t jaded from seeing all these temples and halls. I have been to numerous temples in China and, honestly, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish one from the other. The fourth hall of the Lingyin Temple was a reconstruction of the old one. There were originally five halls as is the standard design for temples.

Buddhist Figure at the Sutra Library 藏经楼 at the Lingyin Temple 灵隐寺

The Sutra Library merely houses some significant Buddhist artifacts, there is no Buddhist statue here unlike the other halls. However, this is not to say there wasn’t anything worth seeing here. The Sutra Library has been turned into something like a museum. Naturally, there were numerous manuscripts which I couldn’t understand. The Chinese language used back then was quite different from the modern Chinese that is now used in the country. It is a fair bet that the current generation will not be able to understand these either. Aside from manuscripts, there were also small Buddhist figures and even large vases.

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Going to the Sutra Library 藏经楼

As it turns out, not all of the halls here were original. Actually, that fact isn’t that surprising at since the Lingyin temple has been around for two millenia. The fourth hall is the Sutra Library 藏经楼. This hall was built in this millenium, making it a baby compared to the other halls. Amusingly, I didn’t really notice that was that recently built. Probably some clues were the intricate carvings at the entrance of the hall. It was obvious that it wasn’t old since there were hardly and signs of weathering.

Intricate Carving at the Sutra Library 藏经楼

As for the Sutra Library, as the name implies, it houses a collection of sacred writings. It also houses some other significant Buddhist articles. As I wasn’t really that familiar with the Buddhist religion, compounded by the fact that the descriptions of the artifacts were most probably in Chinese, I wasn’t really looking forward to reading them.

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Statue of the Medicine Buddha

Much like its bigger brother Grand Hall of the Great Sage, the Hall of the Medicine Buddha also houses its own statue of Buddha. Naturally, this was dedicated to the Medicine Buddha, the Bhaisajyaguru. The Medicine Buddha is normally depicted as sitting and carrying a medicine jar in one hand. The statue of the Medicine Buddha exactly like this. Again, the hair was depicted as having a bluish tinge. The Hall of the Medicine Buddha is just as ornate at the others, with the statue as the natural highlight.

Entering the Hall of the Medicine Buddha

Just like the other halls, this hall also has its own share of figures on the side. This one was a bit different though since they were in color, unlike the monochrome likenesses on the other hall. Again, I do not know these Buddhist personalities but I’m sure they are important for them to be sharing the hall with the Medicine Buddha.

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Entrance to the Hall of the Medicine Buddha 药师殿

The third hall in the Lingyin Temple complex was the Hall of the Medicine Buddha. Bhaisajyaguru is the short form of the official name of the Medicine Buddha. You can try to look up the long name, I don’t even want to read it. As the name implies the Medicine Buddha is one who heals through medicine, much like a doctor. Actually he is described as a doctor who achieved enlightenment and now helps other people get better through his teachings.

Flowers Outside the Hall of the Medicine Buddha 药师殿

The hall was a little smaller than the Grand Hall of the Great Sage but it is still nonetheless impressive. It is two storeys tall and is likewise built on top of an elevated platform. I was grateful that there are even less people here. I guess a lot of people just stop at the Grand Hall of the Great Sage, after all that was the important one. Although, temples here tend to all look alike after a while, they are still no less fascinating.

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Depiction of Guanyin and Several Buddhist Personalities at the Grand Hall of the Great Sage 大雄宝殿

The gold plated wooden statue of Buddha was certainly impressive and fitting to be housed in the Grand Hall of the Great Sage, however there were other statues in the Great Hall. Both sides of the hall were lined with Buddhist statues, I was not familiar with these figures but they seem to be important enough to have people praying to them. The heathen that I was, was just busy taking photos of the temple unmindful of the meaning of these figures. My friends were also Buddhist and they also took their time to pray.

Numerous Arhats Line the Grand Hall of the Sage 大雄宝殿

Behind the wooden statue was an impressive display of carving skill. This was a statue of Guanyin. Behind her was a depiction of numerous Buddhist personalities. The carving was from floor to ceiling and it looked like every square inch was meticulously done by a craftsman. Unfortunately, the carving was dark and it was difficult to get a sharp photo. I didn’t bring my tripod either since it was still bright outside. Anyway, I got a decent photo in the end but it had taken me a few shots to get a nice one.

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Statue of the Sakyamuni at the Grand Hall of the Great Sage 大雄宝殿

The Grand Hall of the Great Sage 大雄宝殿 in the Lingyin Temple is the largest hall in this complex. The three storey hall houses one of the significant Buddhist figures here. The hall suprisingly wasn’t very crowded inside. Sure there were people there but it wasn’t like the whole of Hangzhou City was there. The hall houses that statue of Sakyamuni or more commonly known as Siddharta Gautama who would later be elevated to the status of Buddha.

Statues Around the Grand Hall of the Great Sage 大雄宝殿

Now, the statue of Sakyamuni is a bit of a puzzle as it was carved relatively recently in the 1950s. It is a wooden statue covered in gold and it is considered the largest wooden statue of Buddha in China. Interestingly the hair of the status has a bluish tinge, I not sure what it means though. But he looks like all the other sitting Buddha statues I have seen in this part of the world, the one it most resembles is probably the one in Lantau Island in Hong Kong.

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