Luohan Temple

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Built during the Zhiping reign (1064-1066) of the Song Dynasty, the Luohan Temple (Arhat Temple) is renowned for its history of nearly 1,000 years. As its name suggests, the temple is the site of an arhats' cave and a hall of 500 arhats. However, "Luohan" was not the original name of the temple. During the Ming Dynasty, it was renamed the "Gufoyan (Ancient Buddhist Rock) Temple" in 1462 (6th year of the Tianshun reign, Ming), the "Luohan Temple" in 1465 (1st year of the Chenghua reign), the "Cangjing (Scripture Repository) Pavilion" in 1506 (1st year of the Zhengde reign), and the "Xihu (West Lake) Monastery" in 1628 (1st year of the Chongzhen reign). The temple was given its present name in 1886 (12th year of the Guangxu reign, Qing Dynasty).

The Luohan Temple, located at Yuzhong District of Chongqing, used to be a large complex, but having had many ups and downs, only the compound with the Pavilion of Scripture Repository has remained. As if all this was not enough, an air raid by the invading Japanese reduced it to shambles. The temple as it stands today was gradually brought into being in the last half century. Probably because of its old history, the Luohan Temple is still regarded as an ancient Buddhist center, its elegantly designed buildings being perennial attractions to pious pilgrims and curious visitors from all over the world. It is now the site of the Chongqing Buddhist Association.