Wuhan is a capital city of Hubei province of China. This capital city has a rich culture and history. It has several places of worship including Churches, Buddhist Temples, Mosque and Taoist Temples.
Today we take you to a tour of Buddhist Temples that together are called the “Four Buddhist Temples” of Wuhan.
Guiyuan Buddhist Temple: This temple is located in Hanyang District of Wuhan. This temple was built in 15th year of Shunzhi in 1658 under Qing dynasty. This temple has an area of 4.67 acres. The temple has three distinctive courtyards and owns three groups of buildings- Depository of Buddhist texts, the Great Buddha’s Hall and the Hall of Arhats. On 5th January every year people here visit the Hall of God of Wealth to worship, it’s interesting. In another tradition counting of Arhats took place in the Hall of Arhats during spring festival to predict Good and Bad fortune for the coming year.
Gude Temple: is one such temple that is in Hankou of the Wuhan city. Gude Temple was built in the 3rd year of Emperor Guangxi (1877) of the Qing Dynasty . It is said that the Gude Temple has been built according to the Alantuo Temple in Myanmar. Those who see they find it interesting as it is an erratic combination of all different architectural styles and traditions. Thus this temple becomes a unique Buddhist Temple. This temple has a Great Buddhist Hall. This hall was built in 1922 and was expanded into Gude Temple. This hall has an area of 20000 sq. meters and has a floor space of 3600 sq. meters.
Baotong Buddhist Temple: This temple is located in Wuchang District of Wuhan. Baotong Buddhist temple was first built in the Liu Song Dynasty(420-479) with the name of “Dongshan Temple”. From time to time under many dynasties, this temple was renamed and also structures were added to it. The seven-story Chinese pagoda was built under Yuan dynasty. The Mahavira Hall was added in 1457 by rulers of Ming Dynasty. This temple was largely extended in 1485 and was finally named Baotong Chan Temple. Today the existing buildings include Heavenly Kings Hall, Mahavira Hall, Hall of Guru, Free life pond, Jade Buddha Hall etc. The Baotong Temple has also been inscribed as a National Key Buddhist Temple in Han Chinese Area by the State Council of China in 1983.
Zhengjue Buddhist Temple: Is one of the Four Buddhist Temples in Wuhan. This temple has a unique structure and style that attracts the Buddhist followers and travellers to its doorsteps like other temples.Wuhan beside being a industrial and commercial hub is also thus a centre of Buddhist temples.
By-Monica Saxena
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