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Lama Temple in Beijing- Yonghegong
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The yellow glaze-tiled roofs indicate the supreme dignity of the Lama Temple.
If you have enough free time, Lama Temple – Yonghegong will be the first major site that China Odyssey Tours recommends you to visit without your tour group, a great opportunity to venture on your own. The temple is small, relatively speaking, to many of the other sites you can visit in Beijing, but China Odyssey Tours would definitely recommend it as a side trip. It is the largest and best-preserved lamasery in Beijing, absolutely beautiful and amazing. The Lama Temple is situated in the northeast part of the city center and if you take subway, you can get off right at this station (Yonghegong subway station)!
Monks with their distinctive red robes living and working in the Lama Temple.
History
Built in 1694, the lama Temple was once a residence for Yongzheng, a crown prince of the emperor. After ascending the throne, he moved to the Forbidden City, and half of the palace was taken over by monks. After Yongzheng's death in 1735, his coffin was placed in the temple.
Emperor Qianlong, Yongzheng's successor, upgraded Yonghegong to an imperial palace with its turquoise tiles replaced by luminous yellow tiles (Yellow, the dominant color in the Forbidden City, was the imperial color in the Qing Dynasty.). In 1744 during the reign of Emperor QianLong, it was converted into a lamasery and became a residence for large numbers of monks from Mongolia and Tibet. The Lama Temple eventually became an outpost of Tibetan-Mongolian Buddhism in Beijing.
Beautifully decorated entry gate towards the Lama temple.
Time to Visit
The renowned Lama Temple is home to the Yellow Sect of Buddhism, a sect that's mainly associated with Tibet. It is an active lamasery, which means that monks of the sect live and work in the temple. It must be the most popular temple in Beijing. Many Buddhists not only local but those from other part of China come here to pray for all reason, healthy/wealthy/safe/peace, etc.
People believe that all pray can become true after you light incense and pray here.
Currently, on average 5000 people visit Yonghegong daily. The atmosphere during the visit can be calm and quiet, very unlike some of other hurried visits to famous sites! You can wander and get a good look at the architecture and the artwork... all fabulous! But on the first and fifteenth day of Chinese New Year (the Lantern Festival), there will be thousands of worshippers at the temple making offerings of incense and praying. Meditation will be disturbed by the constant noise and concentration will be lost. Anyway, it's a nice escape from busy Beijing, especially if you go early in the morning before the tour buses get there. The Lama Temple is open daily from 9am to 4pm.
One of the precious tapestries with images of gods in this renowned Lama Temple.
Architectural Layout and Collections
The Lama Temple is much more than just one building. It is a magnificent Tibetan Buddhist complex, building after building after building, featuring five large halls and five courtyards with beautifully decorative archways, upturned eaves and carved details. From south to north, the courtyards become smaller and smaller while the main buildings get bigger and bigger. The five halls are Tianwangdian (Buddha's Warrior Hall), Yonghedian (Hall of Harmony and Peace), Yongyoudian (Hall of Everlasting Protection), Falundian (Hall of the Wheel of the Law) and Wanfuge (Pavilion of Eternal Happiness). (“Dian” means "hall" in Chinese) .
The five halls house a treasury of Buddhist art, with each having magnificent Buddhas, huge incense burners, tapestries, sculptured images of gods, demons and Buddhas, as well as Tibetan-style murals. Every statue has some meaning and is the Buddha for something. The superb architecture and the spiritual atmosphere combine into an unforgettable visit for foreigners.
Visitors trying to toss coins up onto the top of the bronze sculpture for good luck.
Yonghedian - Hall of Harmony and Peace
Yonghedian is supposed to be the main building of the whole complex. It used to be the place for the prince Yongzheng to receive ministers. In each courtyard of the Lama Temple, usually just before the entrance to a hall are incense burners, many of which are quite beautifully carved. In front of the Yonghedian, there is a strange-looking bronze sculpture with many coins around it. It is believed that if you can toss a coin up onto the top of the sculpture, the coin will bring you good luck. Many try, many fail! Very interesting and challengeable.
At the central altar you can see the Buddha's of the three ages: the middle one is Sakyamuni (the Present), the Past Buddha is to the right, and the Future Buddha is to the left.
Fulundian is standing out for its eye-catching Tibetan architectural style.
Falundian - Hall of the Wheel of the Law
Another remarkable temple inside the lama temple complex is the Falundian. It is a temple with traditional Tibetan architectural style. The upturned eaves are very exquisite. On the altar of the hall you can see a big bronze statue of the sitting Tsongkhapa, who founded the Yellow sect of Lamaism.
Out of respect for Buddha, no cameras are allowed in the Wanfuge hall. We only get a painting of the largest Buddha statue.
Wanfuge Hall - Pavilion of Eternal Happiness
The Lama Temple is also home to an amazing relic: the largest statue of Maityera carved from a single tree. It must be the highlight of your Lama Temple tour.
The Buddha statue, adorning the rearmost Wanfuge Hall, was awarded the Guinness World Record in August 1990. This highly polished statue is huge: 18 meters above the ground, 8 meters below the ground and about 8 meters across. He is carved from a single sandalwood tree that had to be imported for over 3 years from outside the capital. What a job! Seeing the size of it you may wonder if there has ever been a tree that wide. Unfortunately, you cannot take photos inside.
Gig prayer wheels in the Lama Temple - If you want to join them in this practice, remember to turn the wheel clockwise.
Gig prayer wheels in Lama Temple
The prayer wheel is a religious artifact used by believers in Tibetan Buddhism. The prayer wheel is religious object and also a unique work of art. It shapes like a bucket with exquisitely incised patterns on the surface. Buddhists turn prayer wheels in a clockwise direction. It is believed that turning the prayer wheel once is the same as having done many years of retreat.
In the Lama Temple, visitors can ring the huge bronze bell by swinging the huge log.
Before or after the visit, remember there are many intriguing Hutong nearby. China Odyssey Tours also recommends that you visit the beautiful and tranquil Kongmiao and Guozijian at the same time: they are in a side street opposite. Kongmiao is the Confucian Temple while Guozijian was the Imperial College during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
