A Visit to the Yonghegong Lama Temple

I had to go to the visa office again today, and the Buddhist temple is right by the subway station where I needed to go, so I decided I should take time to visit it.  It is the largest Buddhist monastery in China outside of Tibet.  It was originally built in 1694 by the Qing Dynasty and used as an imperial palace.  In 1722 part of it became a monastery for Tibetan monks.  It made it through the Cultural Revolution without being destroyed, and was opened to the public again in 1981.  It is an actual monastery, and monks come to train and serve here.

This is the entrance into the temple grounds.

This is the pathway to five main halls.

This is a picture of the Bell Tower, and the one below is of the Drum Tower.  Both os them are used to call people together for special occasions.

There are two lions outside of the first hall.  They were put there when the by the emperors and are a symbol of royalty.

The lions are at the entrance to the Hall of Heavenly Kings which was the original entrance to the grounds.  Inside is the Maetreya Buddha - who also is known as the smiling or laughing Buddha.  On each side of the room are two Heavenly Kings.  They all hold different objects in their hands, but I wasn't able to find out what they symbolize.  They hold a snake and treasure, an umbrella and silver mouse, a sword, and a pipa or a musical instrument.  On the wall is also a picture of a person with a thousand hands and eyes.

Between the first and second hall is a large copper cooking vessel that dates back to the Qing Dynasty. It is one of the three rarest objects in Beijing.  I have also added a picture of people lighting incense to use to pray outside or inside the buildings.  I tried to not take very many pictures of them praying because I didn't want to take away from their worship.

Next is the Hall of Harmony.  It has statues of Buddha at three ages of his life.  The one on the right is the Buddha of the Past, the middle on is Buddha of the Present, and on the left is Buddha of the Future when he returns.  (Sorry.  I didn't take the Buddhas of Past and Future.) There also are nine people on each side wall who have different faces and skin color to represent all people of the earth.

The fourth building is the Hall of the Wheel of Low.  It is still used by the monks each morning from five to seven to study and conduct religious ceremonies until they let other people come into the hall.  The statue in this hall is of Je Trongkhapa, the founder of the Geluk School.

The final hall is the Pavilion of Ten Thousand Happinesses.  It has a statue of Buddha in it that is 26 meters high - or about four stories.  It is carved from a single piece of sandlewood.  It is hard to see his face because of the lighting and how far up it was, but you can see it if you look closely.

I could not leave without just snapping some random pictures to show the intricate and colorful details on the buildings.

For those of you who have traveled with me, you have to know I would take a picture of a door.

As I was leaving the temple area, I came upon a monk standing by one of the buildings.  I suspect he was sent to stand there so people like me could take his picture.  I was happy to oblige.  I hope you enjoyed the tour.  It is a very interesting place.