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Bamboo Temple lies on the Yu’an Mountain in the northwest of Kunming and 12 kilometers from the downtown of Kunming.
筇竹寺, Qiongzhu Temple, Bamboo Temple, Kunming, Yunnan
The Yu’an Mountain winds for over ten li with green forest, springs, and beautiful scenery, is a Buddhist temple in Kunming. It was first built during the Song and Yuan dynasties. The 500 painted clay arhats were sculpted by Li Guangxiu, 黎广修, a folk sculptor, and his six disciples during the Guangxu Period of the Qing Dynasty. Rather than based on traditional stereotypes, these arhat sculptures were created in a realistic and romantic way. They are of higher artistic value and regarded as “gems of Oriental sculptures”.
The arhat sculptures are distributed over three buildings. 216 each are in the Fanyin Pavilion and the Tiantailai Pavilion, 68 are housed in the temple’s main hall, the Daxiong Hall.
Kunming’s attractions: Bamboo Temple – Yuantong Temple – Green Lake – Daguan Park – Golden Temple – Longquan Temple
Images of the Bamboo Temple
Original pictures: Matteo Damiani
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