Nanhai Temple

Nanhai Temple is situated in Runan County, Zhumadian City. Its construction began in the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty (1545 AD), and it was historically known as one of the Eight Great Sights of Caizhou. In 1994, Master Mingcheng, abbot of Guanyin Temple on Daxiang Mountain in Taipei, invested 150 million yuan to reconstruct the temple in his hometown. The stupa housing the spiritual relics of Master Baisheng from Taipei was also built within this temple compound.

On September 24, 1994, more than 800 eminent monks, dignitaries and people from all walks of life from Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong and other regions attended the inauguration ceremony of Master Baisheng’s relic stupa. The whole temple features rigorous layout and ingenious design. With magnificent halls and resplendent palaces, it is reputed as the largest Buddhist temple in Asia.

Historical records show that Xiao Nanhai, originally named South Lake, was a quarry where earth was dug for city and dike construction over successive dynasties. The low-lying area gradually filled with water and became a lake. After nearly 600 years of construction and renovation spanning the Ming and Qing dynasties, a scenic zone covering over one thousand mu took shape. It stretched from Wuying Pagoda in the west to the Ruhe River bank in the east and extended northward to the city moat.

The Guanyin Pavilion built by the lake in the Ming Dynasty was modelled after Putuo Temple on the South China Sea. Since this pavilion was smaller in scale than the original temple on Putuo Mountain, the lake was nicknamed Xiao Nanhai (Little South Sea). The ancient buildings here included Guanyin Pavilion, Dashi Temple, Cundi Tower and Yellow Crane Tower.

Nanhai Temple stands in the southeast of Runan County, Henan Province. Covering more than 300 mu, it is a monumental construction project. The main building, the Mahavira Hall, is an 80-metre square in plan view. Larger than the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City and the Dacheng Hall of Confucius Temple in Qufu, Shandong, it is hailed as "the No.1 Hall in Asia".

The four auxiliary halls dedicated to the Heavenly Kings, Guanyin, Manjushri and Samantabhadra boast triple upturned eaves. Tall and stately, they are comparable to similar buildings at well-known Buddhist sacred sites across China.

The memorial archway above the main gate is 50 metres long and 31 metres high. Along the 500-metre-long and 20-metre-wide passage inside the gate stand twelve granite memorial archways built from north to south, themed respectively on the Twelve Karmic Links, the Twelve Chinese Zodiac Animals and the Twelve Bodhisattvas. They are unique in style and spectacular to behold.

The Relic Stupa of Elder Baisheng in the northeastern part of the temple perfectly integrates traditional Chinese ancient architecture with modern Southeast Asian architectural styles, appearing both grand and elegantly distinctive.

The 500 granite arhat statues carved on the platform of the Mahavira Hall draw on the fine craftsmanship of more than 20 Arhat Halls nationwide. Top sculptors were gathered to create these figures with varied and distinctive features. The Buddhist Scripture Library inside the temple has an original design, housing numerous editions of Buddhist scriptures from ancient and modern times, both home and abroad.