Chongqing Travel Notes丨Hidden in the City Luohan Temple in the Bustling City

Hello everyone!

The first day of 2022, the New Year’s Day holiday. Where did you go to play? Every year at the end of the New Year, epidemics frequently break out, leaving many people trapped at home. They want to go out to play but cannot. On New Year's Day, I went to the Luohan Temple in downtown Chongqing to pray that the epidemic would end soon.

I have been in Chongqing for more than half a year, and this is my first time to visit Luohan Temple. I spent two yuan to buy three incense sticks . This was probably the cheapest one among all the temples I went to. The three incense sticks were also very big. Tickets cost 20 yuan.

Since ancient times, the mountain has been named after the temple spirit, and the temple has been named after the mountain. However, Luohan Temple stands in the steel forest, hidden in the neon lights. It is surrounded by modern buildings and busy with traffic. Only in Luohan Temple, the smoke is always curling, the bells and cauldrons are ringing, and the Sanskrit sounds are faint.

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The real hidden in the city is nothing more than this. The beauty of Luohan Temple cannot be described in words. It can only be understood by being inside.

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Nirvana emerged from the ruins, and in the scorched earth after the bombing, such a pious faith could still sprout.

In the Luohan Temple, at a corner, a devout believer stood like a sculpture, quietly seeking answers from his master.

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After several catastrophes and renovations, the entire ancient temple is still filled with a strong sense of Zen.

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The landscape inside Luohan Temple includes the monuments of the four heavenly kings, ancient Buddha rocks, Luohan Hall, Maitreya Pavilion, Daxiong Hall, Sutra Library, Abbot's Room, Zen Hall, etc.

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1. In the 11th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (1885), Monk Longfa rebuilt the temple and built the Arhat Hall imitating Baoguang Temple in Xindu. Five hundred Arhats were made of clay, and the temple was renamed Arhat Temple. In 1942, Luohan Temple was bombed by Japanese planes and later repaired. During the "Cultural Revolution", all Arhat statues were destroyed. In 1984, the government allocated special funds to rebuild them. The monuments of the garden when it was first built have now been lost to obscurity, with only the "West Lake Historic Sites" stele embedded in the "Ming Stele Pavilion" remaining, and the writing marks can still be faintly discerned.

2. During the Anti-Japanese War, in July 1940, Luohan Temple was bombed by Japanese planes. The temple was reduced to scorched earth, with only the Dashanmen and ancient Buddha rock carvings remaining. Immediately, more than 20 monks braved Japanese artillery fire and began to rebuild Luohan Temple and Luohan Hall in the ruins. By 1947, under the auspices of Master Zongxian, the main hall, Sutra Library, Luohan Hall and Shanmen Archway were restored. During the "Cultural Revolution", the five hundred Arhats in the Arhat Hall were smashed to pieces by the Red Guards, and the base on which the Arhat statue was placed was also pried to pieces.

In that era, all faiths, Buddhism, holiness, history, and dignity were all overthrown and shattered by the youthful surges of the Red Guards. What’s more, five hundred can only represent a certain spirit. The meaningful sculpture, just when the Red Guards were setting up the stairs and preparing to destroy the Main Hall, the stairs suddenly broke. Someone arrived in time to prevent an even more complete destruction. The believers of Luohan Temple are more willing to believe that this past event is spread among the people: this is the manifestation of the Bodhisattva.

3. On May 1, 1986, Luohan Temple ushered in another grand ceremony in its thousand-year history. After two years of renovation, Luohan Hall is open again. At the ceremony held that day to consecrate the Five Hundred Arhats, more than 300 elders and Buddhist believers from various mountains in Sichuan prayed together under the auspices of Master Kuan Lin, then president of the Sichuan Buddhist Association and abbot of Wenshu Monastery in Chengdu. Buddha Dharma will last forever and world peace will prevail.

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There are a total of 524 statues in Luohan Hall, all of which are clay statues. Its shape is exquisite and exquisite, and its expression is lifelike. Good men and women often come here and silently count the arhats to gauge good or bad fortune.

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The believers who worship Buddha in Luohan Temple have never planned to advance or retreat among the morning bells, evening drums, green lanterns and ancient Buddhas, and they have remained unchanged for thousands of years. Although the "dang-dang" bells are not as loud as the bells of other famous mountain temples and spread throughout the forest, they can penetrate every corner of Luohan Temple.

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A thousand-year-old temple opens its mind in this soothing way and starts a new day. At this time, Chongqing City was still shrouded in darkness.

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Under the gray sky, skyscrapers tower into the sky; candlelight flickers and blue smoke curls in front of the Mahavira.

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The monk was on the stone steps, slowly twisting the beads in his hand, watching the travelers and devout people coming and going to worship the Buddha and pray. This seems to be a way of their practice. Not only can you feel great freedom in the deep mountains, but in the bustling world of mortals, you can also experience the floating beings and achieve enlightenment.

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As night falls, visitors who come to pray come out of the temple one after another. With the help of the monks, the two doors slowly close toward the middle, thus separating the secular and Buddhist worlds. At this time, outside the gate, there was still a lot of traffic, a bustling market, and a large flow of people.

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bus

Take bus No. 105, 111, 112 Inner Ring Road, No. 114, etc. or take Light Rail Line 1 and get off at Xiaoshizi Station and walk about 180 meters to reach it.

Rail

Take Line 6 and exit at Xiaoshizi Exit 6.