Guanyin Temple can be found in many places. The Guanyin Temple in Henan that I will introduce today has the oldest history. It has a history of more than 1,000 years now! The temple is old, but also somewhat dilapidated. It is not a popular place for tickets. It is called the sacred place of Henan temples by the locals. This temple is located in Shengwangtai Village, Xiaodian Town, Ruyang County, Luoyang, Henan.
An ancient temple
The push-pull moon door is rare in temple buildings
1.
Guanyin Temple is backed by Phoenix Mountain. It is built with palaces and pavilions rising step by step from north to south. To the north is the Ru River, which is suddenly open to the public. It fully implements the traditional Chinese Feng Shui concept and is a good place with excellent style. Contrary to other temples facing south, this temple faces south and faces north, which is based on the idea of ??Guanyin Bodhisattva who "turns down Cihang and saves all living beings". According to folklore, if you pray here, your wishes will come true.
Therefore, although this temple is not as famous as other ancient temples in Henan, those seeking wealth and luck are willing to travel thousands of miles to come here. Especially on the first and fifteenth day of each year, temple fairs and the birthday of Guanyin, hundreds of thousands of tourists and pilgrims from surrounding counties and cities gather here, and the scene is very spectacular.
The most important thing is that compared to the ticket price of the Shaolin Temple in Henan, which is as high as 100 yuan. Ruyang Guanyin Temple has always been open to the public free of charge, and incense is voluntary. In addition, the water level in the temple is consistent regardless of drought or flood, and the two male and female ginkgo trees that have been dependent on each other for thousands of years add to the aura of this ancient temple.
Therefore, many netizens said: Guanyin Temple is the place that most resembles an ideal temple. It looks very ancient inside and feels very sacred. No tickets are required, it’s really a good idea.
2.
The specific construction time of the temple has not been investigated, but according to the stone tablets remaining in the temple, the temple was built during the Five Dynasties (i.e. 907-960 AD) By the Qingli period of the Song Dynasty, it had begun to take shape. Later, monks from all dynasties in the temple made alms and gave alms, and gathered skilled craftsmen from all over the world to expand and carefully carve it.
Unfortunately, with the decline of the Qing Dynasty, Guanyin Temple also lost its past style. At that time, warlords fought, monks fled, and the thousand-year-old temple was destroyed. The Guanyin Temple we see today was rebuilt on the original site in 2002 with funds raised by Buddhist master Shi Renkuan. The entire ancient building complex covers an area of ??nearly 10,000 square meters and has more than 80 temples.
Among them, the remaining ancient buildings can be traced back to the first year of Chongqing in the Jin Dynasty (i.e. 1212 AD). The bell tower, wing rooms, attic, stele pavilion, fairy cave, etc. on both sides of the central axis are all Qing Dynasty buildings.
There are also a large number of murals in the temple, and the characters are lifelike and extremely beautiful. Coupled with the well-preserved various inscriptions and stone carvings, it can be said that Guanyin Temple is the crystallization of the wisdom of the ancient people and provides valuable information for the study of Buddhist culture and historical changes.
However, perhaps because it is too low-key, although pilgrims gather here every year and the incense is flourishing, not many outsiders know about it, which is really regrettable.