Swallow Pagoda

Swallow Pagoda

The Swallow Pagoda is a cultural tourism attraction.

The Swallow Pagoda is located in Shen County and was built in the first year of the Zhiping era during the Southern Song Dynasty (1064 AD). It is an octagonal, thirteen-story brick pagoda of the pavilion style. The base of the pagoda measures 23 meters from east to west and 22 meters from north to south, with a height of over 40 meters. The pagoda has four entrances; entering through the north gate allows visitors to climb to the top, while inside the south gate there is a stone-carved statue of a goddess. Inside the pagoda are stored five Northern Song Dynasty engraved copies of the *Lotus Sutra*, one handwritten copy of the *Dharani Sutra*, a delicate small silver pagoda, and a stone casket (coffin). The small silver pagoda is made by hammering thin silver sheets together, featuring an elegant and exquisite design. Inside the stone casket is water, on which floats a silver sheet boat, and within the water are sarira (Buddhist relics). The majestic Swallow Pagoda was historically often used as a military watchtower. [Note: The latter part of the sentence appears to be mistakenly inserted agricultural content about a breed of sheep and has been omitted from the translation as it is unrelated to the pagoda.]