Famen Temple

CHINA, Shaanxi, Baoji

Famen means Dharma Door. The temple is famous for housing the only finger bone relic of the Buddha. The underground palace and the foundation of the pagoda were built in 555 during the Western Wei dynasty. Between the years 631 and 874, eight emperors opened up the underground palace to make offerings and then sealed it again. In time, it became an imperial temple. In 874, after the final sealing of the underground palace, there was no further record of the Buddha’s finger bone relic. The temple has been destroyed and rebuilt a number of times. All the present buildings within the temple were reconstructed after 1987. A new complex, which includes the 148 m high Namaste Dagoba, was added by the provincial government in 2009. The temple was listed as a National Cultural Heritage Site in 2006.
Along the central axis there are the main temple gate, Bronze Buddha Hall, Great Hero Hall, True Body Pagoda, Reclining Buddha Hall, with the bell and drum towers located on either side, together with the Thousand Buddha Pavilion. A statue of Sakyamuni Buddha is enshrined in the Bronze Buddha Hall with statues of Arhats surrounding him. The Great Hero Hall houses the Five Dhyani Buddhas and the surrounding walls have depictions of the Twenty-Four Heavenly Beings.
In 1988 the True Body Pagoda was rebuilt on top of the underground palace. The Pavilion of Treasures within the temple museum houses artifacts unearthed from the palace. The design of this pavilion is derived from a gilded miniature pavilion discovered within the underground palace.