Shuanglin Temple

 

Shuanglin temple was firstly established in South Liang dynasty. The respectable monk Fu Da operated its building. It has more than 1500 year’s history. It is famous for its large scale and many famous Buddhist monks. During the time of Song dynasty, there are more than 1200 rooms and more than 2000 people. It was honored to be the No.1 sacred place. It is also crowned to be the third place under heaven and No.1 in Zhejiang. Since the time of Tang dynasty, there have been a lot of Japanese monk came here. Some monks also went to Japan to do missionary job. However, due to the reason of the history, this temple has been destroyed for several times. In 1958, the village built the large reservoir and this temple was completely submerged by water. However, as the famous Buddhism center in history, it is highly emphasized by local government and many other non-governmental organizations. In 1986, a new temple was established near the Shuanglin reservoir and in 1994; the municipal government decided to restore the temple and developed it to be the scenic zone. After four-year effort, in 1997, it was eventually finished, and the whole building complex is very grand and attractive. The Daxiong-Baodian Hall is 1.6 meters higher than that of Soul-Retreat Temple in Hangzhou. There is also an iron pagoda standing near the reservoir. It still looks splendid as the new one. Behind the main hall, there is a dagoba with the essence of Monk Bo Da. The whole environment there is quite good for personal leisure and self-check, if you are Buddhism believer.