500 Lohan Temple

Why 500 Lohan Temple is special ?

The 500 Luohan Temple is a Buddhist temple that contains a fantastic sculpture park. The 500 arhats seem to be main attraction in this vihara. In fact, the locals and tourist maps refer to this vihara as the 500 arhat temple complete with photos of the arahats in the local tourist map.

The names of each arahat appear at the base of their sculpture. Each of the 500 sculptures is extremely lifelike capturing the characteristics, facial features and postures of the arahats. There is a sense of orderly formation and movement at the same time. These 500 arahats must be every photographer’s wonderland.

Source: http://www.aboutbintan.com/

What to explore at 500 Lohan Temple?

To enter the vihara, visitors must pass through an impressive archway guarded by General Heng and General Ha. Next to the archway is a pavilion with Buddhas in Thai style and facing this pavilion is a sculpture of baby Buddha. The surrounding wall is decorated with Tibetian Buddhist symbols.

The main hall is just next to the pavilion where a sculpture of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva sits on the altar. Below it and on the floor is a Taoist deity of filial piety. Guarding the main hall are life size sculptures of the Dharma Protectors Weituo and Sangharama Bodhisattva, 伽蓝菩萨, more well known as Guan Gong.

Source: http://www.aboutbintan.com/