Big Buddha Temple

Big Buddha Temple lies at the foot of Dingming Mountain, 1.5 kilometers away from the Tongnan County of Chongqing. The green Dingming Mountain is quite steep like a green screen with the Fujiang River winding. There are many national famous and even world famous attractions in the temple. Big Buddha Temple was listed as the national key cultural relics protection unit in 2006 by the State Council.

History of Big Buddha Temple

The Big Buddha Temple in Tongnan was originally started to be built in the years of Xian-Tong of Tang Dynasty (860-873). It was originally called Dingming Temple or Nanchan Temple. Head of the Buddha statue was carved in Tang Dynasty.

In North Song Dynasty, the body of the statue was carved. In the Tian-De years of South Song Dynasty, gold foils were overlaid on the surface of the body, thus the statue of the big Buddha was completed in more than 300 years. And the name of the temple was changed into Big Buddha Temple in the South Song Dynasty for the statue of the big Buddha.

In Ming Dynasty, a pavilion with seven overhanging eaves was built as a shelter of the big Buddha statue to protect it. The pavilion is now still in good condition.

In the year of 1151 and 1278, the Big Buddha Temple was rebuilt respectively.

In the 11th year of the Republican China (1922), Big Buddha Temple was rebuilt again and the Jade Emperor Hall was built in it.

Attractions in Big Buddha Temple

Big Buddha Hall

The Big Buddha Hall is the core building in the Big Buddha Temple. It is a hall with seven overhanging eaves. It is the first Buddha hall with the roof covered with glazed tiles in China. It is said that not any iron nails were used in such a huge ancient building. You can imagine the advanced technology of the ancestors.

Big Buddha Statue

Inside the Big Buddha Hall enshrined the statue of the Big Buddha. It is a giant seated statue with a total height of 18.43 metes. The head of the statue is 4.3 long with two 2.74 meters long ears. This Big Buddha statue has a long history and is still in good condition now. It is the biggest Buddha statue in China and the seventh biggest in the whole worlc.

Qiqing Platform

On the left side of the Big Buddha Hall is the Qiqing Platform. Qiqing represents the seven human emotions-joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hate and desire. The Qiqing Platform was originally called Big Buddha Cave. There are 42 stone steps which were carved on the precipice, seeming like 42 music strings. Climb upward along the steps and you can hear the sound of rat-a-tat which is very beautiful. It is called "Tweedle of Stone Steps" which was carved in the Xuan-De years of Ming Dynasty (1426-1435), over 100 year earlier than the echo wall in the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. It is one of the four ancient echo buildings in China.

Stone Inscriptions

To left of the Qiqing Platform is the Dan Cliff. The cliff is about a mile long. With many inscriptions, poems and statues engraved on the surface of the cliff. Among them is the most outstanding inscription of Chinese character-Fo (Buddha). This character is 8.85 meters long and 6.78 meters wide, covering an area of 60 square meters. It was inscribed in 1879 of Qing Dynasty and is the largest inscription of Chinese character- Fo (Buddha).

Sound of Tides

To the left of the Dan Cliff stands a giant grotesque rock with the shape similar to an eagle. Therefore, it is also called Eagle Rock. Stand in front of the rock in peace, and you can hear the sound of tides coming out from the deep of the rock. This is called "Sound of Tides". The rock is actually a mysterious natural echo rock.