Guangfu Temple

Guangfu Temple

Guangfu Temple is a cultural tourism attraction.

Guangfu Temple is located on the northern side of Nan Kan Mountain, south of Bazhou District. In ancient times, the temple was built beneath the cliffside carvings of Nan Kan. It was relocated to the site of the former Zitong Palace (long destroyed) during its reconstruction in the 1990s. Guangfu Temple was originally built during the Liang and Wei dynasties. Historically, it was named after the mountain—Nan Kan Temple and Hua Cheng Temple—and also known as Nan Mu Temple due to the large nanmu trees growing on the mountain. During the Tang Dynasty, Yan Wu, who served as the prefect of Bazhou, renovated the temple and petitioned the imperial court to bestow a new name. On April 13th of the third year of the Qianyuan era (760 AD), Emperor Suzong approved the request, and the name “Guangfu Temple” was inscribed on a stone tablet. In 1993, when Bazhong Prefecture was established, Tang Zhongrong, then a professor at the Sichuan Buddhist College and a renowned blind Buddhist scholar known internationally, donated a Myanmar jade Buddha. This led to the initiation of plans to build a Jade Buddha Temple. Shi Zhaoquan, executive director of the Sichuan Buddhist Association and abbot of Guangde Temple in Suining, was invited to serve as the presiding monk. Four three-meter-tall Myanmar jade Buddhas were subsequently enshrined. Zhao Puchu, Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and President of the Buddhist Association of China, inscribed the plaque for the “Mahavira Hall.” The temple was officially opened in 1997 after receiving approval. In 2000, when the Buddhist Association of China and the National Religious Culture Publishing House compiled the large pictorial album “China’s Hundred Great Buddhist Temples,” and with the approval of the Bazhou District Government, the temple’s name was restored to Guangfu Temple.

Guangfu Temple includes a Mahavira Hall, Jade Buddha Hall, Amitabha Hall, Medicine Buddha Hall, Guanyin Hall, Ksitigarbha Hall, scripture depository, and facilities for daily services. It covers an area of over 8,000 square meters, with a construction area of more than 4,000 square meters.

The temple houses the largest and most numerous jade Buddhas in the city, and the provincial-level cultural relic “Putuo Rock” is situated at the highest point of the temple grounds. To the east, it neighbors the nationally protected Nan Kan Cliffside Carvings.