Huayan Temple
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Huayan temple or Huayan Monastery is an ancient temple in downtown area of Datong Shan'xi province; just located on Daxi Street on the south western of the city. The monastery was originally built in Liao Dynasty and was regarded as an ancestral temple for emperors.
It has been rebuilt and renovated for several times during Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, while the Liao& Jin architecture style has reminded.
Huayan Monastery has been divided into two parts, the upper and the lower Huayan. Each has its own main hall, but they are now has been connected together. The main hall of upper Huayan temple is the hall of Sakyamuni, which was firstly built in Liao but renovated in Jin. It is now the largest Buddha halls built in Liao period. The total area of the well-preserved color frescos is 890 square meters (about 0.2 acres) which is rare in China, like gods, Buddha and so on. There are also color paintings originated from Ming & Qing dynasty standing on top of the hall, displaying dragons, cranes, flowers and other images found in legends on Buddhism. The Lower Monastery is simple and unsophisticated. Its main hall is the Bhaga Repository Hall in which Buddhist sutra is kept.
