Temple of Paradise

Temple of Paradise

Temple of Paradise (极乐寺), built in the 1920s in Heilongjiang with a total area of 57,000 square meters,is one of the four famous Buddhist temples of the three northeast provinces.

The overall design, layout and construction of the temple maintain the traditional style of Chinese temple-buildings. It lies southward along the street. At the entrance, the first thing coming into sight is a two--storey bell tower. The main, east and west yards lie horizontally in the temple courtyard. As for the main yard with a total area of 1.800 square meters, therein lie four great halls: the Hall of Deva-kings, the Hall of Mahavira, the Hall of Three Saints and a Hall for the depositary of Buddhist texts. In the middle of the Hall of Deva-kings is a Maitreya (a large Buddha icon) with four deva-kings to the left and right. In front of the hall, there are bell and drum towers on both sides. There are also two auxiliary halls on both sides of the yard. Siddartha Gautama is enshrined in the middle of the Great Hall of Mahavira – the largest hall in the temple. This temple is the largest Buddhist monastery in the history of modern architecture, and lying in the east part is the famous Seven-tier pagoda.

Each year on April 18th and 28th of the lunar calendar, the great temple fair is held.

Ticket: RMB 8 yuan per person