Dongguan Town Elephant Pagoda

Dongguan Town Elephant Pagoda

The Dongguan Town Elephant Pagoda is a cultural relic protection unit of Dongguan City.

The Dongguan Town Elephant Pagoda was originally located on Xiangta Street in the urban area of Dongguan City. Due to urban development needs, it was moved to the Dongguan Museum in 1966. It was built in the fifth year of the Dabao era of the Southern Han Dynasty (962 AD). According to Volume 89 of Chen Botao’s *Dongguan County Annals*: “During the Southern Han period, a herd of elephants damaged crops, so officials killed them. In the fifth year of Dabao, the imperial envoy Shao Tingxuan gathered their bones and built a stone pagoda to subdue them.” The pagoda has an octagonal floor plan and consists of three main parts: the base, the body, and the top, standing 4.15 meters tall. The base and the top are made of red sandstone, while the body is carved from granite. The base features a lotus-petal Sumeru pedestal with carvings of divine guardian figures on each face. The body of the pagoda is inscribed with the *Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī Sūtra*, with 302 characters still legible. The upper sections of the body are carved with images of buddhas and flying apsaras. The top of the pagoda is further divided into five parts: a lotus-petal base, an inverted bowl, four-sided buddhas, banana-leaf ornaments, and the finial. The entire pagoda is exquisitely carved, rich in Buddhist iconography, and uniquely combines elements of a stupa and a tower. In 1979, it was designated as a cultural relic protection unit by the Dongguan County Revolutionary Committee.