A 50-million-yuan project is underway to restore three key temples
of Tibetan Buddhism in northwest China's Qinghai Province.
The repair of the main hall at the
Ta'er Monastery, a holy site of the Yellow Sect of Tibetan
Buddhism, has been completed. The rotten wooden structures in the
hall have either been replaced or repaired with anticorrosive
materials. Decorations inside and outside the hall were plated with
gold and lightning arresters were installed on the hall.
Located in Huangzhong County of Qinghai Province, the monastery was
built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) in memory of Tsong Kha Pa,
founder of the Gu Lu (yellow) sect of Tibetan Buddhism. It was
later expanded to become one of China's famous six temples of
Lamaism.
The renovation of the Qutan Temple, also built in the Ming Dynasty,
but mainly in the style of the Han Dynasty (BC 202 -220 AD), is
near completion. The project lasted six years and cost 10 million
yuan.
The 600-year-old lama temple is referred to by experts as "the
imperial palace of the northwest" because of the axis running
directly through its mid-section, dividing the temple into two
symmetrical parts, just like the imperial palace in Beijing.
The temple has remained intact, however centuries of weathering and
the lack of maintenance have damaged the buildings, murals and
cultural relics. To date, the first and second phases of the repair
project have passed appraisal by experts.
The first phase of repair on Longwu Temple began last May. The
project will be divided into three phases at a cost of 2 million
yuan.
In
addition, plans have been made to repair other key temples of
Tibetan Buddhism, said an official with the provincial cultural
department.
(Xinhua News
Agency March 8, 2002)