Palace of Maitreya Bodhisattva

The Palace of Maitreya Bodhisattva is a Song style building of seven open rooms with single eave hip palace roof in the color of grand and elegant dragon pattern. Maitreya Bodhisattva is oblated in the front palace, the Statue of Veda is in the rear and on the sides stand the Dragon Section of the Heaven Dragon——The Eighth Episode.

The Statue of Maitreya Bodhisattva is seated, smiling and holding rosary, 3.7 meter high with a fatty body, bare breast and bulge belly in gold Kashaya. Maitreya Bodhisattva means the family of mercy in Sanskrit. He was called Ajita and was born in a royal family in South India. He became a student of Sakyamuni later but entered into nirvana earlier. He lived in the inner yard of Tushita Heaven as a bench Buddha. He was bestowed predictions by Sakyamuni, saying that he would be reborn to the earth in 5.6 billion years of Tushita Heaven, and would become Buddha under the Dragon Flower tree of Dragon Flower Garden. He was thus called the Buddha of the Future. Maitreya Bodhisattva as a Buddha will carry on the mission of Sakyamuni, gathering and preaching under the Dragon Flower Tree three times to save lives of the three roots of evil, which was called the Three Gathering of Dragon Flower. Maitreya Bodhisattva made people relieved and relaxed with his bare breast and smiling eyes, for this reason he was believed as the most amiable religion figure by Chinese people. There are couplets reading "Bulge belly holds, holding what cannot be held, Wide mouth laughs, laughing what are laughable". His implication of tolerance, openness and free-and-easy going becomes the credo of the ordinary religion people in China.

Veda, a standing statue of 3 meter high. Veda is one of the most respected of the twenty gods. It was said that he was a God General who was responsible for protecting the monks from  east, west and south world(no monks from the north)under command of South Tianwang in the south. He became the most respected and was a Daharmapal oblated at every common fane. Sutra said two Ghosts of Thief stole away two teeth sharira when the Buddha entered nirvana. Fortunately Veda noticed this and took them back after a hard chase. Thus the statue of Veda is often oblated behind that of Maitreya Bodhisattv, facing the Jeweled Hall of the Great Heroes to show warning.

The figure of Veda in the monastery of Buddhism looks like a general in ancient China, wearing gold helmet and armor, holding a vajra-mallet, majestic looking and awe-inspiring. Veda stands there holding the palms together with the vajra-mallet on his wrists, indicating the monastery is a larger one which can receive traveling monks and hermits from everywhere.

Dragon, transliteration of Naga, was Master of Water. "Dragon has unpredictable power", who is responsible for clouds and rains, the head of dragons is called King of Dragon. The power to control clouds and rains is important for agriculture production, thus he was oblated with a very high rank by ordinary people.