Dafo Temple

CHINA, Zhejiang, Shaoxing

Dafo means Great Buddha. The temple is situated on Nanmingshan (South Light Mountain) in Shaoxing. It was founded in 345 during the Eastern Jin dynasty and was originally named Ruixiang (Auspicious Image) Temple. The temple went through periods of prosperity and decline. Towards the end of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911) all the buildings and their contents were destroyed, except for the statue of Maitreya Buddha. It was rebuilt in 1925 and renamed Dafo Temple. It was listed as a key Buddhist temple in the Han region of China in 1983.
The main buildings of the temple include the Heavenly King Hall, Western Hall, Great Hero Hall, Great Buddha Hall, Ksitigarbha Hall, sutra repository, Thousand Buddha Compound, and Master Zhizhe’s Pagoda. The five-story Great Buddha Hall houses the statue of Maitreya Buddha, which is the most famous feature of the temple. The statue was carved between 486 and 516 during the Southern Dynasties period, taking a total of 30 years to complete. The Thousand Buddha Compound is also known as the Thousand Buddha Cave. It is a natural limestone cave containing an image of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. The cave walls are carved with over 1,040 Buddha statues from 485 of the Southern Dynasties. They are fine examples of early cave art in southern China.