Avatamsaka Temple

Avatamsaka Temple is located in Gaolou Village, Tianzhuang Town, Huantai County. According to legend, it was first built in the Sui Dynasty. The original complex boasted a grand scale, covering several hundred mu of land, with a Buddhist pagoda standing in front of the main compound. Since the temple was erected on a high platform in the northwest of the village, locals named it "Grand High Tower Temple". As time went by, the village where the temple stood came to be known as Gaolou Village, a name that has been passed down to this day.

The temple derives its name from the Avatamsaka School, one of the major schools of Chinese Buddhism, which was founded based on the Avatamsaka Sutra. Empress Wu Zetian bestowed the honorific title "Master Xianshou" upon its patriarch Fazang, so the school is also known as the Xianshou School. The full title of the scripture is the Mahāvaipulya Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra, also called the Sutra of Mixed Flowers, serving as the core classic of the Avatamsaka School.

Twelve Buddhist pagodas were constructed across Huantai County through successive dynasties, among which the one at Gaolou’s Avatamsaka Temple stood the most renowned. In its prime, the temple featured towering golden Buddha statues, resplendent halls, curling incense, and solemn bells and sutra chants, making it an extremely prosperous sacred Buddhist site along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. Having weathered over a thousand years, the temple underwent renovations and reconstructions during the Chenghua and Wanli reigns of the Ming Dynasty, as well as the Kangxi, Qianlong and Jiaqing reigns of the Qing Dynasty, yet it now lies in a dilapidated state.

At present, the Zibo Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics has officially approved Huantai County’s reconstruction project for Avatamsaka Temple. The religious affairs authority has completed official registration for the temple, and Master Changjing has been invited to serve as its abbot.