Asia

[Visited: March 2018]

It is a cloudy afternoon when I walk on the south side of Xiamen island, towards Xiamen University. Just west of the University terrain, I find the entrance of Nanputuo Temple, an important Buddhist complex that has been around since the Tang dynasty. When I enter through the gate, and walk around the pool at the far south side of the complex, I see how Nanputuo is squeezed between the pool and the Wulaufeng mountain behind it. Nanputuo: the South Temple, not because it lies on the southern slopes of the mountain, but because it is south after the holy Buddhist site of Putuoshan in Zhejiang province, which I visited a couple of years before. I walk around the pool, cross a stone bridge which brings me past pavilions to the Life Relieving Pool.
A little higher up, I stop at the balustrade from which I can look down over the pools and the surrounding gardens. Looking north, I see worshippers waving with incense, bending towards the Hall of the Heavenly Kings, which is the first building of the Nanputuo complex. I walk past the colourful bigger-than-life statues in the hall, and come to a courtyard with small stone pagodas, surrounded by other temple buildings. The next hall is Mahavira Hall, which contains statues of the Buddha of the past, the Buddha of the present, and the Buddha of the future. Walking alongside the hall, I see openings in the wall, which lead to the quarters of the monks who live here. Continuing beyond Mahavira, I come to a much smaller, octagonal building: Dabei hall, in which I find statures of Avalokitesvara , with 48 arms stretched out, all hands with a scared eye.
The next hall is Sutra-keeping Pavilion, which houses a precious collection of Buddhist scriptures, as well as sculptures of Buddha from ivory, wood, and porcelain. Unfortunately, the hall is closed for visitors, so I exit the nucleus of Nanputuo temple complex, and start walking up the Wulaufeng (Five Old Men) mountain. The higher I get, the smaller the steps, and the better the views. Hiking up takes me past caves with Buddha statues, pavilions from which I have a view over Nanputuo, the university complex, the bay south of Xiamen island. By now, I have left the crowds behind, and the surroundings are peaceful and quiet. At times, I have to squeeze myself under big boulders, walk through forest, until I reach the highest point, and enter the Botanical Gardens. Officially already closed, I walk down the path through the gardens. It is when I hit the streets of Xiamen on the north side of the mountain that I realize I am still on Xiamen island, one of the many big cities of China. Fortunately, it still has plenty of places where you can escape the hectic everyday life: Nanputuo temple is a case in point.

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Nanputuo temple (China)

Nanputuo temple > China > Asia

[Visited: March 2018]

Around the World in 80 Clicks