Kaiyuan Sarira Pagoda

　　The Kaiyuan Sarira Pagoda is located in Kaiming Square at the center of Yangxian County. Built during the prosperous Kaiyuan era of the Tang Dynasty, it was renovated once during the Song Dynasty and has a history of over 1,000 years. In 1957, it was listed as a key cultural relic protected by Shaanxi Province. The site where the pagoda stands was originally home to a large temple called "Kaiming Temple." Hence, the pagoda is also known as the "Kaiming Temple Pagoda."

　　The sarira pagoda is shaped like a water chestnut — delicate and elegant, standing gracefully tall. It is about 30 meters high with 13 levels. A local folk rhyme says: “Yangxian has a pagoda shaped like a water chestnut, just two feet and eight inches from the sky.” Its structure is exquisitely unique, hollow inside, built on a sumeru pedestal, with the height and diameter of each level gradually decreasing from the bottom up. From the second level upward, every side of each level features a Buddha niche and a small stupa, with stone Buddha statues enshrined inside the niches. There are a total of 50 Buddha niches and 100 small stupas. Wind chimes hang from all four sides of each level. On moonlit nights, the pagoda glistens under the silver light, and as the evening breeze blows, the chimes tinkle softly, creating an ethereal, heavenly atmosphere. Ancient literati described it as: “Gracefully upright, towering above the dusty world; a dragon-like spire first guards the sacred Buddhist platform.” It is one of the finest brick stupas in southern Shaanxi.