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The Guihua Temple (Songzanlin
Lamasery)
The Guihua Temple is named the Gedan
Songzanlin Lamasery in Tibetan. It is located at the foot
of the Foping Mountains, 5 km north of Zhongdian County
and occupies an area of 500 mu. The monastery is the largest
Tibetan Buddhist Temple in Yunnan Province, and also one
of the famous monasteries in the Tibetan area. It now has
over 700 Buddhist monks.
The Guihua Temple was built in 1679 under
Emperor Kang Xi's authorization after the fifth Dalai Lama
sent a report to him, who named the temple "Gedan Songlin".Emperor
Yong Zheng granted it the name "Guihua Temple".
The temple was made after the Potala Palace in Lasa, hence
it has another name "Small Potala Palace". It has
hundreds of small houses for Buddhist monks and living Buddhas.
Besides the two main temple buildings at the top in the centre,
there are 8 wing buildings around them. One main temple has
108 pillars in its main hall, which can hold 1,600 monks sitting
and chanting scriptures. |
