【The Four Holy Sites of Indian Buddhism】

The four holy places of Buddhism, Buddhism was born in India, but it declined in India, leaving behind the four holy places of Buddhism are Lumbini, Bodh Gaya, Sarata (Sarnath), and Kushnara on the border between India and Nepal. Pen fun and pavilion www.biquge.info

【Lumbini Garden】

Lumbini is a famous Buddhist shrine and the birthplace of Shakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism. It is located in Rupandeshi District, Lumbini Province, western Nepal. Lumbini means "lovely" in Sanskrit. This was originally the garden of Lumbini, the wife of the ancient Heavenly Arm Kingdom, Shanjue King, hence the name. Legend has it that in 623 B.C., Lady Maya, the wife of the nearby King of Kapila Guardian, on the night of the full moon of the first month of the Ni calendar, on the way back to Ningning, gave birth to Siddhartha (Shakyamuni is an honorific title, meaning "Shakyamuni saint") under the Sara Twin Tree in the Lumbini Garden. At the birthplace of Shakyamuni, there is a white square two-story temple of Lady Mahamaya, which is solemn and solemn. There is a pond next to the temple where the water is as clear as a mirror, and it is said to be the bathing place of Mrs. Maya. There is a sora double tree growing on the edge of the pool, the body of the tree is about thirteen or four meters thick, and the reflection in the water is gorgeous.

The Chinese monks Fa Xian of the Jin Dynasty and Xuanzang of the Tang Dynasty visited here in 405 and 633 A.D. respectively, which are described in the "Records of the Buddha Kingdom" and the "Records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty". Fa Xian was the first foreigner to visit and leave an authentic record. Due to the long period of time and the loss of monuments, it is with their accounts that the original site of Lumbini can be surveyed and rebuilt in modern times. The original pond side of the Suluo double tree, in Xuanzang's visit has been "withered", the existing tree is replanted by later generations. Nearby is a stone pillar erected by King Ashoka of the Mauryan Dynasty of India in 249 BC when he made a pilgrimage here. There are newly built stupas and Buddhist temples in the south of the temple, and there is a huge statue of Shakyamuni in the temple. The walls of the hall are painted with murals reflecting the life of Shakyamuni. In addition, Lumbini now houses a heritage museum, a secondary school, a guesthouse, a monument to King Mahendra, etc.

Every year, on the first day of the first month of the Nin calendar, Shakyamuni's birth day, a grand temple fair is held here, and Buddhists gather for the pilgrimage. In order to protect historical monuments and develop religious tourism, the Royal Government of Nepal started the reconstruction construction of Lumbini in 1968, and proposed to build a Lumbini garden with an area of about 7 or 8 square kilometers, surrounded by 65 square kilometers of foiling land.

【Bodh Gaya】

Bodh Gaya, also known as Bodhi Ashram, Buddha Gaya, is the holy place of Buddhism in India, located in northeast India on the bank of the Pargu River, a tributary of the Ganges River, 11 kilometers south of the city of Geya in central Bihar, and about 150 kilometers east of Kolkata. Because it is said to be the place where the Buddha Shakyamuni became a Buddha, this small city has become a holy place in the hearts of Buddhist believers. It is said that the famous pagoda temple in the city was built by Emperor Ashoka. Stupa Temple It is a pagoda with a lower and upper spire, which is 50 meters high. The ground floor is a 15-meter-long square, starting from the middle, the layers are retracted, and the top is cylindrical, with a copper spiral dome on top. There are four small towers at the four corners of the first layer of the tower, which resemble the main tower and stand in response. There are Buddha statues of different forms on the tower. There is a golden Buddha statue in the temple, which is brilliant, and the Buddha statue is not very big. Although the temple is not majestic among Indian temples, its unique structure is full of majesty and magnificence.

There is a Bodhi tree not far from the west of the pagoda temple, and there is a red sandstone under the tree, that is, the "Vajra seat" of Buddhism. According to legend, it was under this tree that the Buddha Shakyamuni realized the true meaning and founded Buddhism. It is surrounded by monasteries built by Buddhist organizations and monks in Han China, Tibet, Japan, Myanmar, Thailand, Sri Lanka and other countries. Nearby, there are the ruins of the village girl good student offering milk porridge and the ruins of the Shakyamuni people's photo cave. In modern times, the Chinese inscriptions of the early Northern Song Dynasty of the five directions have been found here, and they are now stored in the Kolkata Museum.

Fa Xian, a Chinese Jin Dynasty monk, and Xuanzang, a Tang Dynasty monk, both visited here. Xuanzang wrote in the "Records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty": "The Buddha in the past was alive, hundreds of feet high, repeatedly deforested, still four or five zhang high, and the Buddha sat under it to become enlightened, so it is called the Bodhi tree." ”

【Sarnath】

The ancient character of the king of the deer is Sarangnath, and later referred to as Sarnath. Sarnath is a Chinese paraphrase. After Shakyamuni attained enlightenment in Bodh Gaya, he first came here to preach and received 5 disciples.

Of course, Sarnath is not just a Buddhist destination because of this legend. After attaining enlightenment in Bodh Gaya, not far from here, the Buddha first came here for his first mission, where he preached for the first five disciples**. The Buddha also started from here, lived in the world for 45 years, preached more than 300 times, and turned thousands of disciples. For more than 2,000 years, his Buddhist teachings have spread all over the world, with more than 500 million Buddhists worldwide.

It is said that the Chinese Jin Dynasty monk Fa Xian and the Tang Dynasty monk Xuanzang both visited this place, and the scenery of Sarnath Garden at that time was recorded in Fa Xian's "Records of the Buddha's Kingdom" and Xuanzang's "Records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty". Xuanzang described this place as "eight points of the district, even the walls are blocked, the layers are heavy, and the rules of the poor are beautiful", and he also saw 30 monasteries, 3,000 monks, and life-size bronze statues of the Buddha here.

The main entrance of the current main temple of Sarnath is a modern Bodh Gaya-style building, surrounded by flower beds, meadows, woods, and deer parks. It is said that the first monasteries were built during the time of Emperor Ashoka of the Mauryan Dynasty, rebuilt during the Gupta Dynasty, and rebuilt by Akbar the Great during the Mughal period. The current temple was built in 1931. On the northeast side of the temple, there is a huge Bodhi tree, which is several feet high, green and dense, and it is said that it was transplanted from the branches of the big Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya. Legend has it that the Buddha gave his first lecture to five disciples under this tree, and now there is a group of sculptures of the Buddha giving a lecture to five disciples under the tree, surrounded by garlands and tassels sent by believers. To the southwest of the main temple is a tall building that looks like a large barrel, which is the only monument here that is exposed to the ground---- Damanque Tower. This tower is 33 meters high, the lower layer is made of stone, the upper layer is brick, and the inside is solid. Tang Xuanzang wrote in his "Records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty" when describing this tower: "There is a stone cui slope in the southwest of the Jingshe (i.e., the temple) (i.e., Damanke Tower. ), worry-free Wang Jianye. Although the base is falling, there are still 100 feet left, the stone pillar (i.e., the stone pillar of Ashoka) is built in front, it is more than 70 feet high, the stone contains jade run, and the reflection is ....... ”

Many Buddhist countries in Asia have temples here, and China's Zhonghua Temple is one of them. It turned out to be the only Chinese monk here. His name is Yu Qing, and he claims to be a native of Taer Temple in Qinghai. 36 years ago, he came to India with someone to learn the scriptures, but unfortunately he fell ill halfway, leaving this half of his body crippled. Due to the inconvenience of walking and mailing, he lost contact with his relatives in China. He has lived in Sarnath for 36 years and has never returned to China and rarely met Chinese. He said that the Chinese embassy had sent people to see him. It's just that he is old and has no more thoughts, but only wants to die in a foreign land and be with the Buddha as his companion.

【Detention Naga】

Kushinagar is a sacred Buddhist site in India, the place where Buddha Shakyamuni passed away, near the border between India and Nepal.

When the Buddha was 80 years old, knowing that he was seriously ill, he and his disciples left the city and headed northwest from Vaishya. In terms of direction, he wanted to return to his hometown (present-day Lampini, Nepal). But when he went to the corpse Nakara, his condition worsened. On the day of Nirvana, he bathed in the river and set up a rope bed in a grove overgrown with sara. He lay on his right hand on his side, with his head facing north, his feet facing south, his back facing east, and his face facing west. Therefore, the direction of the later reclining Buddha statues is like this. The ashes left after the cremation of the Buddha are called relics, and there were 8 kings who divided the relics of the Buddha at that time, and each built a pagoda to worship, and this is how the Buddha relics pagoda originated.

Xuanzang, a high-ranking monk of the Tang Dynasty in China, once visited Jiaxia. It is recorded that he crossed the Atandovardy River, where the Buddha bathed, to the Borneo Forest. There he also saw the Nirvana Pagoda built by Emperor Ashoka, which was more than 200 feet high, although it had fallen. Today, the Nirvana Pagoda no longer exists, replaced by a new pagoda built in 1923 with funds raised by Burmese Buddhists, with a steamed bun on the top and an umbrella cover. There is a small temple in front of the tower, which has a carving of the Buddha Nirvana.

【Four Holy Places of Chinese Buddhism】

Manjushri Bodhisattva Dojo - Shanxi Wutai Mountain, Guanyin Bodhisattva Dojo - Zhejiang Putuo Mountain, Fuxian Bodhisattva Dojo - Sichuan Emei Mountain, Jizo Bodhisattva Dojo - Anhui Jiuhua Mountain. With the introduction of Buddhism, the four famous mountains began to build temples and monasteries in the Han Dynasty until the end of the Qing Dynasty. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, it was protected by the state, and the monasteries were repaired. It has become a well-known religious and tourist attraction at home and abroad.

【Wutai Mountain】

The first holy place of Buddhism in China. It is located in the territory of Wutai County, Shanxi Province, with a radius of more than 500 miles, an altitude of 3,000 meters, surrounded by five mountain peaks, the five peaks are towering, the peaks are flat and wide, such as the platform of the soil, so it is called Wutai. Since the Han and Tang dynasties, Wutai Mountain has been the center of Buddhism in China, and since then the dynasties have not declined, and have been built repeatedly, and there are more than 300 temples in the heyday, which can be seen in the large scale. At present, most of the temples are gone, and only 39 temples in Tainei and 8 temples outside Tai remain. Now Wutai Mountain is one of the national key scenic spots. The temple has been continuously renovated, more magnificent, majestic and solemn, the cultural heritage is extremely rich, the world is praised, among which the most famous five Zen temples are Xiantong Temple, Tayuan Temple, Manjushri Temple, Shuxiang Temple, Rahu Temple.

【Putuo Mountain】

Mount Putuo is one of the four famous Buddhist mountains in China, and it is also a famous island scenic tourist attraction. Such a beautiful island with so many cultural relics and monuments can be said to be unique in China. Located about 100 nautical miles east of Hangzhou Bay, Putuo Mountain is a small island in the Zhoushan archipelago, with an area of about 12.5 square kilometers. There are many scenic spots and tourist spots in Putuo Mountain, mainly including: Puji Fayu and Huiji three major temples, which are the largest among the more than 20 temples preserved today. Puji Temple was built in the Song Dynasty, the main temple of the mountain ** Feng Guanyin, with a total building area of about 11,000 square meters. Fayu Temple was founded in the Ming Dynasty, by the mountain by risk, built layer upon layer, the surrounding ancient trees are towering to the sky, extremely quiet. Huiji Temple was built on Foding Mountain, also known as Foding Mountain Temple. Strange rocks and strange rocks. There are more than 20 famous places such as Pantuo Stone, Ergui Listening Stone, Haitian Buddha Stone, etc. There are many stone caves where the mountains and the sea meet, the most famous are Chaoyin Cave and Fanyin Cave.

【Jiuhua Mountain】

It is located 20 kilometers southwest of Qingyang County, Anhui Province, and about 60 kilometers away from Guichi City on the south bank of the Yangtze River. The area is 120 square kilometers, the main peak is 1342 meters, it is the branch of Huangshan Mountain, and it is a national scenic spot. There are a total of 99 peaks in Jiuhua Mountain, with 9 peaks such as Tiantai, Shiwang, Lianhua, Tianzhu and so on are the most majestic, the mountains and ravines, streams and waterfalls, strange stones and ancient caves, green pines and bamboos, strange and beautiful, contrast with each other. Places of interest, scattered in between.

【Emei Mountain】

Located in Emeishan City, Sichuan Province, China, the scenic area covers an area of 154 square kilometers, and the highest peak is 3099 meters above sea level, which is a famous tourist attraction and a famous Buddhist mountain; It is a national mountainous scenic spot in China that integrates natural scenery and Buddhist culture. It was inscribed on the World Natural and Cultural Heritage List on 6 December 1996. According to legend, Buddhism was introduced to Mount Emei in the 1st century AD. Nearly 2,000 years of Buddhist development has left a rich Buddhist cultural heritage to Emei Mountain, created many eminent monks, and gradually made Emei Mountain a Buddhist holy place with profound influence in China and even the world. At present, there are about 300 monks and nuns in the whole mountain, and there are nearly 30 temples, among which the famous ones are Baoguo Temple, Fuhu Temple, Qingyin Pavilion, Hongchunping, Xianfeng Temple, Xixiang Pond, Jinding Huazang Temple, Wannian Temple, etc.

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