The Temple of Six Banyan Trees is a historical landmark not only in Guangzhou, but also in the whole of Southern China. It is home to world-famous Buddha statues, the oldest in Guangdong Province.
The temple was built in 537 and was originally called Boazhuangyan (Temple of the Precious Shrine). However, it was rebuilt and changed names several times. It got its present name in 1099 when the famous poet Su Dong Po composed a calligraphy poem called "Six Banyan Trees". Once here, he was so fascinated by the banyan trees he saw that he invented two special characters for them. This later became the official name of the temple, although the trees themselves have not survived to our time.
The architecture of this place is a whole complex of historical buildings. First of all, it is a beautiful flower pagoda 57 metres high, topped with a bronze column weighing more than 5 tonnes. According to legend, Bodhidharma, a monk and great teacher from India, was a guest here.
Inside the temple itself, there are several halls. For example, the Tainwang Hall with a statue of the laughing Buddha and the Weito Hall (in Buddhist mythology this is the general who returned the stolen treasure to Buddha). The main room in the temple is the Dasyun Baodian Hall, the "Great Hero's Treasure Hall". Here are three copper statues of Buddha, each weighing 10 tonnes - Buddha Apothecary, Buddha Shakyamuni and Buddha Amitabha, symbolising the future, present and past. And in the Maitreya Buddha Hall sit the already gilded statues of the Enlightened One.
There are two more separate temples within the complex. Inside the first one there is a statue of Huineng - the patriarch of Chinese Chan Buddhism, the founder of the main Chan school, who lived in the 7th century AD. The second temple is dedicated to Guanyin, the goddess of mercy. Foreign families adopting Chinese children are blessed here.
Many unique relics have made the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees a place of pilgrimage for a large number of tourists. Especially on Chinese New Year's Eve and during the Lantern Festival, when huge queues line up to the complex.
