Five-Pogada Temple

Five-Pagoda Temple is located at Baishiqiao west of the Beijing Zoo and Capital Gymnasium. It is so-called because of the five pagodas built on one base. Its official name is True Awakening Temple (Zhenjuesi). Built in the reign of Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty (1403-1424), it was once an important venue for Buddhist activities outside Xizhimen Gate that appealed to numerous pilgrims in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Now the temple halls are no longer extant, except the Five Pagodas on the Diamond Seat. It is modeled after the Gaya Temple of India. Built with brickes and lined outside with stone slabs, Buddhist carvings can be all over the walls of the base and on the small pagodas. The pagoda suffered damages during the "cultural revolution" and the earthquake centered at Tangshan in 1976, and a restoration in 1979 made it stand in its original shape.