Nanjing Lishui Donglu Mountain Guanyin Temple
Donglu Mountain Guanyin Temple is located halfway up the western slope of Donglu Mountain Scenic Area in Lishui District, Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province. It is backed by Donglu Mountain and faces Zhongshan Lake. It is a Buddhist holy site in Lishui and the source of the Qinhuai River.
The temple was first built in the Yuan Dynasty and was originally named Donglu Mountain West Slope Guanyin Nunnery. It was destroyed by war during the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty and rebuilt in the eighth year of the Guangxu period (1882), but was later destroyed again. In 1999, the nunnery in Longgang, Lishui City, was relocated to the site of the Donglu Mountain West Slope Guanyin Nunnery due to urban construction needs and was rebuilt and renamed Donglu Guanyin Temple.
Currently, the temple has been built with a total construction area of 9,500 square meters, including the Yuantong Hall, the Heavenly King Hall, the Bell and Drum Tower, the dormitory and dining hall, the art exhibition hall, and the Baiwei Zhai Hall.
At the beginning of the construction of Guanyin Temple, the abbot Lianhua Master made a great vow to build a practice site based on the description of the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss in the Buddhist scriptures, with the theme of "one mountain, one water, one painting, one step, one scene, one lotus flower", forming a regional division of "one heart, three axes, five areas", and planned to build a human "Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss" integrating Buddhist study, Dharma propagation, charity, and cultural dissemination.
The temple is open all year round and free of charge. It is recommended to visit between 8:00 and 16:30, when the light is good and suitable for photography.
If you choose public transportation, you can take Metro Line S1 and transfer to Line S7 to Lishui Station, and then take Lishui G2 bus after exiting the station. The whole journey takes more than two hours. If you drive, you can navigate to "Donglu Mountain Guanyin Temple", which is about 1 hour and 10 minutes from downtown Nanjing.
Attractions
- Jingping Square: Behind Guanyin Cave, there is a landscape composed of 72 petals, each of which is engraved with the Heart Sutra of Prajna Paramita, and nectar water flows slowly from the mouth of the bottle.
- Pumen Corridor: Connecting Guanyin Cave and Guanyin Pavilion, you can enjoy exquisite high-relief Guanyin stories and feel the Buddhist cultural atmosphere while walking.
- Guanyin Pavilion: Located halfway up the mountain, it is a Tang Dynasty-style building with a bronze statue of Guanyin in the middle, a bell tower on the left, and a drum tower on the right.
- Guanyin Square: The location of the Great Buddha Head, with the Yangzhi Guanyin statue in the center of the square, surrounded by 24 child statues, and a large relief screen wall at the back.
- Guanyin Zen Temple: The main building of the temple, where you can feel the strong Buddhist cultural atmosphere and enjoy the temple architecture and mountain scenery.
Dining Recommendations
- Baiwei Zhai Hall in the temple: Provides vegetarian meals, where visitors can taste delicious vegetarian dishes.
- Nearby restaurants: Such as Shiguo Xuan, Taoji Dezhou Braised Chicken, etc., to meet different taste needs.
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