Another Weekend, Another Temple
On the weekends when I am not traveling I always try to get out and see at least one site that my city has to offer. As I briefly wrote about a little while back, I want to make up for all my time not sight-seeing by visiting as many attractions as I can here in Xi’an. With that in mind I took a short bus ride and an hour walking around being lost to go to Daxingshang Temple. The first thing that struck me about the place is that it is free. That’s right, completely free! Big points right there if you ask me.
The temple is quite large and is spread out so there is plenty of trees and other foliage to add some green to the place. I found it to be a very nice respite from the omnipresent dull grays of the city, which seems perpetually covered in dust and grime. I was trying to stick to a schedule so I only had a short time here (damn me and getting myself lost) but nevertheless I was able to rush around and see most of what the place had to offer. I will definitely be returning here later in the semester to fully absorb the atmosphere (thank you free entrance).
The highlight of the temple is by far the twin halls that contain totally wicked dioramas of Hell. The single room is about 20 or 30 square feet and is completely covered from floor to ceiling with demons, angels, and people being mutilated or tortured. It is quite graphic (leave the kids outside for this one) but I found it morbidly fascinating. There are so many different scenes of the most gruesome torture methods, it was mind boggling. Some of them were very creative. Taking photos in temple prayer rooms is a definite no-no here, though somehow I doubt monks pray to a recreation of hell. Nevertheless I played it safe and did not take any pictures. Either way, they really were very graphic so it’s probably best that I do not have any pictures to put up here.
A relief sculpture that is very similar in style to the depictions of Hell. I found this one in a hallway completely covered on both sides with different scenes. The hall is about 30 meters long so the effect is quite imposing. Perhaps a bit gaudy and over-the-top for a Buddhist temple but nonetheless I thought it was pretty neat. At the very least it is a unique aspect to the temple.
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Wow, awesome pictures!
Hey fun post G. A couple of really nice photos too. I love going to the temples, I should do it more often I guess.
@Conrad: Thanks a lot. I still have so much to learn, though. I’ll try to keep it up!
@EG: Temples are always a good place to spend an afternoon or a morning. Especially on the weekend. Every weekend I try to go to a new place. It’s fun to explore and there are always great opportunities for taking photos.