Last Updated Saturday October 20, 2007
Click on the thumbnail for a larger view.
The outcropping of rock called Peak Flying from Afar is on the grounds of the Lingyin Temple, a famous landmark in Hangzhou.
This is the most famous stone Buddha on the temple grounds. The inscription nearby reads as follows:
Bu Dai Maitreya Budda
Bu Dai Maitreya Buddha carved in the Southern Song Dynasty is the biggest one of
all stone carvings in the Peak Flying From Afar. 9,9 meters wide and 3.6 meters
high. Chinese monk Bu Dai has been the incarnation of Maitreya Buddha since the
Five Dynasties.
The Song Dynasty lasted from 960 to 1120 AD so this Buddha is about 1000 years old.
There were many families taking home memories. This young man had to sit with the fire of a dragon breathing down his neck. The dragon is bearing a warrior Buddha.
Photos by Liu Yan
Of course we had to take the usual tourist shots like everyone else. This is Roy with some of the many statues on the temple grounds.
The Locana Buddhist Festival from 951 AD, just outside the Green Forest Cave, also known as the Golden Light Cave or the Tiger Cave due to the shape of the mouth of the cave looking like a tiger mouth.
This is in one of the caves of Peak Flying From Afar looking straight up through a hole in the ceiling. The loose rock that is wedged in the crack looks like a mother holding a baby and brings fertility to hopeful parents who observe it.
A famous monk used to sleep on this ledge carved out of the rock. It is good luck to run your hand across the edge of the ledge. So many hands have rubbed it that the stone is highly polished.
There were Buddhas everywhere we looked and most had been rubbed for good luck.
The Li Gong Pagoda, the burial place of the founder of the temple.
A proud dad with son and new toy. It was a carved wooden bell that the tike was playing for everyone.