Jile Temple

CHINA, Heilongjiang, Harbin

Jile means Bliss. It is the largest temple in Heilongjiang and was built in 1924. It was listed as a key Buddhist temple in the Han region of China in 1983.
The temple faces south, occupies 2.6 ha of land, and consists of the main, east, and west courtyards. The buildings along the central axis of the main courtyard include the main temple gate, Heavenly King Hall, Great Hero Hall, Hall of the Three Sages, and the sutra repository. The three-bay wide main temple gate is constructed from gray brick; the doors are painted bright red with gold colored decorations, and the roofs are covered in orange cylindrical tiles. The central bay is higher than the bays on each side. The Heavenly King Hall is a three-by-one bay structure. There is a 3 m high iron incense burner located in the passageway between the Heavenly King Hall and the Great Hero Hall. The five-by-three bay Great Hero Hall has a flushed gable roof. A 2.7 m high seated statue of Sakyamuni Buddha is enshrined within, with Mahakasyapa and Ananda standing on either side. Ink rubbings of the Five Hundred Arhats hang on the side walls. The five-by-three bay Hall of the Three Sages has a flushed gable roof. Statues of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva on the right and Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva on the left flanking an 8 m high standing Amitabha Buddha are enshrined within the hall. The sutra repository is a two-story wooden building. It houses various editions of the Buddhist Canon, including Qisha Tripitaka, Pinjia Tripitaka, and the Qing Tripitaka.
Next to the Ksitigarbha Hall in the east courtyard, there is a seven-story octagonal pagoda, which is around 30 m high. On other parts of the pagoda body there are reliefs of dragons, phoenixes, lions, and cranes. This pagoda is connected with the Ksitigarbha Hall, which is a rare architectural feature. Both buildings contain murals of Buddhist stories.