Fanen Temple: Unique Place of Tranquility and Treasure Relics

#chinatrip Famen Temple, known primarily as the storage site of Shakyamuni Buddha's finger bone, is located in Fufeng County, Shaanxi Province, 120 km east of Xi'an City and 96 km west of Baozi. With a history of about 1,700 years, Famen Temple is considered the "predecessor of the Ziggurat in central Shaanxi." The scenic area of Famen Temple includes four parts: the main gate Square, Foguang Street, Famen Temple and Namaste Dagoba. After completion, the scenic area will become the "Cultural Symbol of Shaanxi No. 2", second only to the Terracotta Army, in addition, it is declared as a world-class cultural landmark representing "The time-honored holy Buddhist land and the Classic Ancient Buddhist Area." There are four gates between the Main Gate Square and Foguan Street: Foguan Gate, Bodhi Gate, Prajna Gate and Ideal Wisdom Gate. As it is commonly believed, the Foguan Gate is the place where the Buddha's light frees all beings from torment and leads them to the Buddhist Faramaita. The Famen Temple was built during the Eastern Han Dynasty to store the Shakyamuni sharir. Built around Dagobah, the temple was originally called the Ashoka Temple. During the Sui Dynasty, it was renamed the Buddha Chenshi Mandala. It was only during the Tang Dynasty that the temple received its current name. Later, with the holding of several ceremonies for the burial of the remains of Shakyamuni's finger bone, Famen Temple became a world-famous Buddhist temple. The most interesting sights of the temple are the Famen Temple Pagoda and the museum. In the center of the temple is a 13-tiered octagonal pagoda, under which a piece of Shakyamuni's finger bone is said to have been discovered. In 1981, the architects discovered that the pagoda was gradually going underground. In 1987, during the reconstruction, an Underground Palace was excavated. It is currently the largest Buddhist underground palace ever found. Many royal treasures and jewels have been found in the palace, however, the most valuable treasure is the finger bone of Shakyamuni Buddha. The Famen Temple Museum was founded in 1987 and includes most of the valuable relics of the Tang Dynasty found in the Underground Palace. Gold and silver, painted glaze products, porcelain and silk - all possible relics are presented at the exhibition. Due to the great popularity of the museum, two new exhibition halls were opened in 2000, and the exhibition area was expanded from 500 to 3,000 square meters.