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Bamboo
Temple - Kunming Travel |
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An
old legend tells that during immemorial
times, the king of the Dali kingdom
and his brother drove out and
went hunting rhinoceros. However,
when they drove along the way
till the Jade Table Hill (Yu`anshan),
all the animals disappeared. At
its place, they saw a group of
monks all holding a stick of bamboo.
When the king was about to ask
them where the rhinoceros had
passed, the monks vanished in
a cloud and only their bamboo
sticks left behind them. The next
day, the sticks had taken root
in the ground, and the place was
entirely covered with a luxury
bamboo forest. The king then asked
to built a temple there to commemorate
this fantastic meeting.
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This
Buddhist temple located on the
Yuan hill is inhabited by a small
community of bonzes. It was built
at the beginning of the Yuan dynasty
(1279-1368) and was rebuilt during
the Qing dynasty in 1885. The
temple is famous for its 500 clay
statues (arhat), each representing
a different character. They were
modeled in 7 years from 1883 to
1890 by a master sculptor from
Sichuan and its disciples. These
statues represent the faithful
ones coming to pray in the temple,
the most extraordinary characters
were used as models. |
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In
the first courtyard of the Bamboo
Temple, you can also admire two
sizable trees which would be 1300
years old, planted during the
Tang dynasty. In the other courtyards,
you can also pay your respect
to splendid statues of different
Buddha and also gaze at the religious
frescos. |
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Entrance
fee of BAMBOO TEMPLE:
5 RMB per person
Access:
There is no access to the temple
with public buses from the city,
it is recommended to take a taxi
which costs approximately 25 RMB
from downtown of Kunming.
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