Chuang Yen Monastery

USA, New York, Kent

Chuang Yen means Majestically Adorned. It was built by the Buddhist Association of the United States in 1985.
The monastery occupies 50.6 ha. The main structures include the Great Buddha Hall, Avalokitesvara Hall, Yin Kuang Hall, Thousand Lotus Memorial Terraces, Tai Hsu Hall, bell and drum towers, Seven Jewels Lake, and a library.
The Great Buddha Hall is 25.6 m high and has an area of 2,230 sq m. Its column-less interior is able to accommodate 2,000 people. An 11.3 m high statue of Vairocana Buddha is enshrined in the hall. It stands on a lotus pedestal carved with 12 Bodhisattvas in bas-relief. Around the large Buddha statue there are 10,000 miniature Buddhas on a lotus terrace. Scenes of the Western Pure Land are painted on the terrace, while the Five Hundred Arhats are depicted at the back of the terrace.
The Avalokitesvara Hall is similar in structure to the Great Buddha Hall. The hall was completed in 1985 and was designed by the famous architect I. M. Pei. The hall houses a colored porcelain statue of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, which dates from the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). On the right there is a Four-Armed Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, while on the left there is a 1,000 year-old statue of Avalokitesvara in royal ease posture from the Tang dynasty (618–907).
Two Thousand Lotus Memorial Terraces are built on the northwestern slope on the grounds of the monastery. They face southeast and have a semicircular layout. There is a sculpted head of Amitabha Buddha, while the body forms part of the rock wall. There are 1,050 steel niches with lotus designs on the red granite rock wall to hold urns of the deceased.