Songyin Temple Pagoda

CHINA, Shanghai

Located within Songyin Temple, this pagoda is also known as Huayan (Avatamsaka) Pagoda. The pagoda was built in 1384 during the Ming dynasty, and was repaired by Master Deran. The name of the pagoda derived from the fact that it once housed 81 fascicles of the Avatamsaka Sutra, written with the blood of Deran. The pagoda was repaired in 1847 but was struck by lightning in 1961, and was repaired again in 1999. It was listed as a Municipal Cultural Heritage Site in 2002.
The seven-story, square, brick and timber pagoda is 50 m high. The eaves are supported by bracket sets and are slightly upturned at the corners. The third to seventh stories have balconies. The second story differs from the others in that instead of balconies it has lattice windows, which is a style typically found in pagodas in Jiangnan (region south of the Yangtze River). The exterior walls on the seventh story are inlaid with colorfully glazed statues of seated Buddhas.