New Mahavira Hall

New Mahavira Hall

The New Mahavira Hall is a cultural tourism attraction.

The New Mahavira Hall was jointly initiated by Venerable Wudao, the former abbot of the temple, and Mr. Huang Genxiang from Hong Kong,

and was completed in 1994.

The hall faces south and has seven bays, measuring 29.7 meters in width, 19.8 meters in depth, and 23.32 meters in height, with a total floor area of 785 square meters. It features a concrete imitation wood structure. The roof is double-eaved with a hip-and-gable design, adorned with dragon heads on the main ridge, and a precious mirror at the center. The hall is surrounded by corridors on all sides, with Xikeng stone railings. Grand and magnificent in scale, it is the largest Buddhist hall in the temple.

At the center of the hall are enshrined the Three Buddhas of the Past, Present, and Future. The Sumeru pedestal is 1.9 meters high, and the Buddha statues sit atop lotus thrones (each 2.2 meters high), with the Buddha figures themselves standing 5 meters tall. They are seated in the lotus position with hands in the meditation mudra. The central figure is Shakyamuni Buddha, the teacher of the Saha World; to the east is Bhaisajyaguru, the teacher of the Pure Lapis Lazuli World of the East; and to the west is Amitabha Buddha, the teacher of the Western Pure Land. On the back wall is a standing statue of the Thousand-Armed Guanyin. On both sides are hung paintings depicting the 84 “Great Compassion Forms” of Guanyin.

Five couplets inside the hall were all penned by renowned calligraphers, such as Cheng Siyuan, Venerable Ming?D from Shanghai, and Jiang Dongshu from Rushan. One of the couplets, over 10 meters tall, is the longest in Shaoxing City. It was composed by Venerable Wudao and inscribed by Bao Xianlun. The plaque inscribed with the words “Mahavira Hall” was written by Zhao Puchu.

Location

Chengtan Town, Xinchang County, Zhejiang Province