Luohan Hall in Baoguang Temple was built in the first year of Xianfeng in Qing Dynasty (185 1), with 500 arhats and 77 statues of buddhas, bodhisattvas and ancestors, totaling 577. This group of arhats is the product of the combination of two schools of China folk plastic arts, the North School with exaggerated modeling and the South School with natural form, each showing its magical powers. The 500 arhats in Baoguang Temple are the most intact group sculptures in Sichuan at present, and they are rare artistic treasures. They are famous for their originality and diversity. Every day, many Chinese and foreign tourists and Buddhists come to visit, worship and explore the Lohan Hall, and there is even the custom of counting Lohan among the people.
So, how did 500 arhats come from? The Buddha said in the Heart Sutra Talking about Truth:
When the Buddha was alive, there was no written record, and when the Buddha was alive, there was no written record. Shortly after the Buddha's nirvana, one of his great disciples, the venerable Ye Jia, presided over a meeting. After consulting with the monks, * * * 500 people led 500 people to hold a meeting outside Shecheng, the king of India, in the Qiye Cave of Vibalata Mountain. It was the first time to get together, and they met for the first time at that time. Five hundred arhats calendar, that is, the beginning.
Later, we saw 500 arhats from various temples. Many people don't know what five hundred arhats are, but they actually appeared at the first meeting at that time. But how many meetings are there? As far as I know, there were three meetings and a total of 500 people gathered for three times. This five hundred arhats are different. This time, there are 500 people. The next time, someone else changed in, but it was also 500 people, and it was changed for the third time. So when I wrote "Five Hundred Arhats", I revised my creation according to the ancient genealogy. When I was great, I asked: How was the name of this five hundred arhats decided? I said I didn't know how to determine it, and the ancient genealogy was not necessarily correct, because it was three episodes, and people were confused after three episodes. Of course, later we decided to do it for the last time. The history of 500 arhats began here.