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From an ancient touch
From an ancient touch...
Ten Thousand Buddha Monastery
Very close to the KCR station of Sha Tin and the Pai Tau village, there is an astonished place which seems better-known by foreign travelers than its own citizens. This place is known as the ten thousands Buddhas monastery.
As soon as you start hiking uphill, you will be guided by life-sized statues resting on both sides of the trail. Those statues represent Lohans and all have different faces, positions and meanings. Sometimes, their names are written in Chinese just below the statues but not for all of them.
The last but most significant thing you can see there is undoubtedly the red pagoda standing backwards on the terrace. Even if the Pagoda seems to have nine floors, it only has 4 floors in reality and on the last floor rests the gilded corpse of Yuet Kai, the founder of the monastery.
It seems that all the religious texts are written in Chinese while indications and warnings are written in both Chinese and English. Why is there such a difference? Is it because Buddhism is not as spread out in western countries than in Asian countries, especially China? However, people in charge of the monastery are well aware that the place is getting more and more famous among tourists since they placed a lot of warnings written in English. Anyway, this place remains a place anyone passing or living in Hong Kong should visit.
Ten Thousand Buddha Monastery
Very close to the KCR station of Sha Tin and the Pai Tau village, there is an astonished place which seems better-known by foreign travelers than its own citizens. This place is known as the ten thousands Buddhas monastery.
 |  | The entrance is not clearly indicated, there are only two or three small signs on the way to the monastery so people might find difficult to find it. Were those signs implemented for foreign tourists since they are also written in English? The entrance is actually not one and doesn’t even look like one; it is a trail with more than four hundred steps that visitors have to hike before reaching the monastery. |
As soon as you start hiking uphill, you will be guided by life-sized statues resting on both sides of the trail. Those statues represent Lohans and all have different faces, positions and meanings. Sometimes, their names are written in Chinese just below the statues but not for all of them.
Walking among all of those statues can give you very different feelings, on the first hand, some people would find it scary and creepy and on the other hand, other people could find it soothing and relaxing. In all the case, those Buddhas are diverting visitors and even some of them will look funny because of their position or facial expression. You can't hear anything except some birds, insects or maybe a discussion coming from other visitors you might cross. The place is very peaceful and you will forget that you are in Sha Tin downtown very quickly.     |
| Before reaching the temple, you will be able to see a huge Buddhas painted on its red wall with a lot of Chinese characters. Inside the temple, you will admire more than thirteen thousands miniature Buddhas statues lining on all of the walls. They were offered by worshippers since its creation in the 50’s. They all have a slightly different position and facial expression and the donator’s name is written just below them.   |
 | Two Bodhisattvas are resting among the Arhans; Sitting on a lion, Manjusri was the left-hand assistant of Buddha and represents wisdom and bravery. Riding a six-tooth elephant, Samantabhadra was the right-hand assistant of Buddha and was famous for his power to save the benighted. |  |
 | In the middle, the pavilion hosts Vitasoka and Kwum Yam, standing back to back. Vitasoka is the guardian of the temple, that’s why he is facing it while Kwum Yam, the Goddess of Mercy, is facing the sea. In the old times, most of the residents at the bay were farmers and fishermen and venerated her to ask for her protection. |  |
The last but most significant thing you can see there is undoubtedly the red pagoda standing backwards on the terrace. Even if the Pagoda seems to have nine floors, it only has 4 floors in reality and on the last floor rests the gilded corpse of Yuet Kai, the founder of the monastery.
It seems that all the religious texts are written in Chinese while indications and warnings are written in both Chinese and English. Why is there such a difference? Is it because Buddhism is not as spread out in western countries than in Asian countries, especially China? However, people in charge of the monastery are well aware that the place is getting more and more famous among tourists since they placed a lot of warnings written in English. Anyway, this place remains a place anyone passing or living in Hong Kong should visit.
EN2707 |
Latest page update: made by EN2707
, Nov 6 2009, 8:03 PM EST
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