Mahavira Hall
2020-01-22 00:51 | Hits: 815
From: Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple Author: Office
2020-01-22 00:51 | Hits: 815
From: Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple Author: Office
The light and spacious
Mahavira Hall was constructed imitating Taihe Palace of the Imperial
Palace of Beijing. It is made up of 9 bays with Qing-style double-eave
roof and has three-layer stylobate. The hall, as the biggest mass one
among the halls in the Temple, is 51.7m in width and 26m in height. Zheng Shengwen Hand Scroll of Pictures was
carved to a wood-carving long scroll of 1.8m in height and 117m in
length and was enshrined in the 2.03m high and 119m long huge niche
embedded in the inner walls of the hall with ingenuity, which made it
the only wood scroll home and abroad. The stories of the Buddha
(including the birth, the conversion, the enlightenment, the creation of
Buddhism, the teaching of the disciples, the spreading of the Buddhism,
the reputation as the Buddha and the nirvana) were carved into 18
pictures as the pattern on the 18-blade lattice door of the hall.
The Mahavira Hall, as the
hall of the highest level which is located in the middle of the temple,
generally attracts the attention of most of the visitors. The name came
because of the bravery of the Buddha. (Mahavira means “bravery”)
Figure of Sakyamuni: the 12.6m high figure illustrates the Buddha when he was preaching.
Sakamuni, was originally
name as Gautama Siddhartha because his mother’s surname was Gautama.
After he became famous, he was called by his followers as the Buddha
which means the Enlightened or “the person who knows the truth”. He was
born in Kapilavastu in the ancient India was said to be the son of the
king of Suddhodana. He converted to the Buddhism when he was 29 and
cultivated himself for the next 6 years in the jungle beside the Anoma
River until he was enlightened when he was 35. He then spent the rest of
45 years preaching the Buddhism until nirvana when he was 80 years old
in Kushinaga. His exact date of birth was about 565 BC and the date of
death was 486BC, which means he was the peer of Confucius in China. He
was a real figure in the history as a philosopher of the ancient India,
thinker and the creator of the Buddhism. As the deific founder of a
religion, he was said to be enlightened with eight phases (waiting,
reincarnation, conversion, conquering the devils, enlightenment,
dharmakakra and nirvana).
Manjusri Buddhisattva:
Buddhisattva, is the second highest level next to Buddha in Mahayana.
Manjusri is the abbreviation of “manjusri buddhisattva” which means
“virtue and blessing”. He was responsible for “wisdom” so was also
called “majusri with supreme wisdom”. He was one of the “three saints of
avatamsa” and the other two were the Buddha and samantabhadra. With
five topknots on his head and sword in his hand, he was the embodiment
of wisdom. Riding on a lion, he was also the embodiment of bravery. His
rites are conducted on Wutaishan Mountain.
Samantabhadra (Pu Xian) Buddhisattva is generally tanslated as Spreading. According to the Buddhist texts, Pu means spreading everywhere and Xian means the righteous. He was responsible for the virtues so he was also called “Samantabhadra of virtues”. He was generally created as a buddhisattva wearing a crown and mantle and riding a six-tooth elephant with a jade Ruyi in his hand, meaning he was spreading his virtues everywhere. His rites are generally on Emeishan Mountain.
Mahasthamaprapta: called
translated as “attaining the great strength”. According to the Buddhist
texts, he could “shine with his light of wisdom on everything, making
the three devils (the hell, the hungry ghosts and the domestic animals)
lose their power.” He was responsible for wisdom and therefore was
called together with Avalokitesvara and Amitabha as “three saints in the
west.”
Yapa and Ananda:
They were the most famous
among all the Arhats and the direct disciples of the Buddha. People
generally call them “old Mahakasyapa” and “young Ananda”.
The full name of Mahakasyapa
is Mahakasyapa. Because Mahaka means big, so he was called “old
Mahakasyapa”. He was born in Magadha Empire in the ancient India,
belonging to Brahmen nationality. Among the disciples of the Buddha, he
was famous for the ascetic practices and was therefore called the first
Dhuta. After the nirvana of the Buddha, he became the leader. It was
said that it was he who gathered 500 Buddhist monks to compile the
earliest Buddhist scripture. He, as the creator of the Zen, was honored
as the “Original Buddha of the West.” And in the legend, it was he who
figured out the secret of “the Buddha’s smile with a flower.”
Ananda: the full name was
“ananda monk” which means joy and celebration. He was the son of the
uncle of the Buddha. When the Buddha returned to the hometown, he
started to follow him. He followed the Buddha for 25 years and was good
at memorizing, so he was called “the best memory”. At the first
gathering of the monks, it was he who recited the entire scripture. The
first sense was known to be “This is to what I heard.”
Zantuoquduo: the first ancestor of the Acarya in Yunnan Province. According to Dianshiji,
he was also named as Sridatta, born in the western region. And since he
came from the Malika Empire, he was also called Milika Monk. He spread
Acarya scriptures everywhere from Hengqing to Baofengshan Mountain and
Changdongshan Mountain.
Mokeluocuo: meaning “the king”. It was said that he was the 12th
king of the Kingdom of Nanzhao. He loved Buddhism and set up many
temples. He thus made a great contribution to the spread of the Buddhism
in Dali by setting up “800 big temples and 3000 small temples.”He was
then honored as one of the eight eminent monks in Dali.
The other figures are the Dharma protectors of the Buddha.
The white elephant, and
white horse which mean the good luck, the dharma-cakra which means
safety and the pearls which mean satisfaction are all the “Buddha
treasures”.
On the ceiling of the
Mahavira Hall, there is a carved flood dragon flying and rolling. It was
called “the dragon of the heaven”.
The streamer is also called
“victory streamer”, the generic term for the banners and flags. They
represent the power of the Buddha to conquer all the devils and were
used as the ornaments in the halls.