Than Hsiang's Pu Men Pin Online Gong Xiu Dharma Sharing ( 28/11/2025 )

Teaching Assistant of International Buddhist College, Sis Wong Ping Ling shared on " A Visit to Niushoushan in Nanjing ".

NiuShouShan（牛首山）located in Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province, China. It is a low hill with its main peak at 242.9 meters high.

Niushoushan is known as “Ox Head Mountain” because its East Peak and West Peak face each other in the shape of the two horns of an ox.

The location has been a Buddhist site since the Tang dynasty (618–907AD). However, it suffered destruction during the Southern Song Dynasty but was restored during the Ming Dynasty. In 1856, the temple faced devastation once again during the Taiping Rebellion, leading to a century-long hiatus in its religious activities.

Since 2015, Niushoushan has been developed as a Buddhist Cultural Park with an area of 80 hectares and a reported budget of 4 billion RMB. It now houses the world's only parietal relic of the Buddha (the skull of Shakyamuni Buddha), making Niushoushan a sacred location for Buddhists.

Foding Palace
• An architectural complex built to enshrine the Buddha’s parietal bone relic. It measures 220 meters in length, 160 meters in width, and has a total height of 89.3 meters. Its exterior has 3 main parts: - the Large Dome which looks like the Buddha’s cassock (robe), the Small Dome like his topknot, and the Buddhist Cliff Carvings sit on a base shaped like a lotus throne. Inside its nine floors are three holy spaces:—the Zen Grand View, the Relic Hall and the Relic Palace.

(a) Zen Grand View
• The Zen Realm Grand View is located in the above-ground section of Foding Palace. Its centerpiece features a reclining Buddha. The reclining Buddha is a statue of Shakyamuni Buddha cast in copper, with a total length of 7.5 meters and a surface made of white marble. It can slowly rotate 360 degrees.

(b) Relic Hall
• The Relic Hall consists of Thousand Buddha Hall and the Ten Thousand Buddha Corridor. Containing 1,343 statues of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, the Thousand Buddha Hall is inspired by the Tang Dynasty Vajradhatu Mandala. The Ten Thousand Buddha Corridor encircles the Thousand Buddha Hall. It contains Buddha niches, murals, porcelain panels illustrating the Buddha’s life stories, lacquered sculptures, etc.

(c) Relic Palace
• The Relic Palace is also known as the Buddha's Treasure Palace. In the middle of the main hall is the Relic Treasure Pagoda with exquisite golden decoration. Inside the pagoda is a hexagonal and exquisite lotus stupa. Inside the stupa is a sealed glass box for the Buddha's Parietal Relic, which is fireproof and explosion-proof. The bottom is equipped with a constant temperature and humidity system to ensure the best environment for the Buddha's Parietal Relic.

Parietal Relic of the Buddha
• The parietal relic enshrined in Niushoushan was found in the Ashoka Pagoda in the underground palace of the Bao'en Temple (the former Changgan Temple of the Song dynasty) in Nanjing.

Foding Pagoda
• Adjacent to Foding Palace is the Foding Pagoda. Standing nearly 88 metres tall, it is a nine-storey, four-sided Tang-style structure. On the eighth floor, a bronze-cast Foding Vajra Bell is inscribed with the full text of the Diamond Sutra. The ninth floor houses the Tathagata Hall, which enshrines a statue of Vairocana Buddha. Panoramic view of Niushoushan and Nanjing city from the top floor of Foding Pagoda.

Other Sites in NiuShouShan:
• Foding Temple - Foding Temple began in the early Southern Dynasties and is the birthplace of the Ox-head Chan School. The temple also holds Sangharama Bodhisattva and statues of the Ox-head School’s six patriarchs.
• Hongjue Temple Pagoda - Built in the Tang Dynasty (774 AD), it was later destroyed. The existing tower was rebuilt in the early Ming Dynasty. The Pagoda has seven storeys, which is 25 meters high and made of bricks.
• Zheng He Cultural Site - Burial site of Zheng He. The tomb, restored in 1985, retains traditional Hui and Muslim burial customs.

For more information, please browse https://youtu.be/R4t5A9kWFBA?si=W53kOGaQuYVJU7Gy

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