Buildings & Constructions

Welto Temple	Hall of Great Hero
Arhat Hall	Hall of Perfect Enlitenment
The Scripture Library	The Ancestral Hall
The Guest Office	Retirement Hut
Abbot Chamber	Diamond Cave
Po Lin Pond	Tei Tan
Garden at the back	Lotus Pagoda
The Gate	The Splendid Bronze Cauldron for Return of Sovereignty

Hall of Great Hero

Emerging from the Welto Temple, one will be greeted by the Hall of Great Hero. There is a small quare between the two temples where the major functions of the Monastery are held. On either sides of the square, there are big pavilions with flowering trees and a lotus pond on the left side of the parapet wall. When on turns round and looks back from here, the Tian Tan Big Buddha is in sight.

The Hall of Great Hero, commonly know as ¨the Big Temple〃, is the place where the statue of Buddha is housed. The word ¨Great Hero〃 refers to the Dharma. In the Lotus Sutra, there is a stanza which goes, ¨The great Buddha, the Dharma King of all.〃 The Hall of Great Hero, completed in 1970, was built in Classic Chinese architectural style in which a double roof is the characteristic. (According to the traditional architecture, double roof is a typical architecture style in building the main temple of the Temples and Palace. After the Tˇang Dynasty, double roof was evident in Buddhist temples.) A pair of stone lion is placed in front of the Temple. Octagon pillars engraved with dragons in clouds, which are very rare, are erected in the four corners of the Temple. The eaves of the Temple are elaborately decorated. The interior of the temple is beautifully decorated with exuberant wall paintings.

In the middle of the temple there is a staircase that leads to the Hall of Great Hero on the second storey, creating a sense of grandeur. Three big Buddha statues, representing the Buddhas of the past, present and future, are housed in the temple. The one in the middle is Sakyamuni Buddha (the present Buddha), the one on the left is the Medicine Buddha (the past Buddha) and the one on the right is Amitabha (the future Buddha). There are two attendants on both sides of Sakyamuni Buddha, the older one is Kassapa, and the younger one is Anan. Kassapa, also known as Mahakassaapa, was one of the Buddhaˇs ten principal disciples widely know for his being able to tolerate the most austere ascetic practice. Anan, also know as Ananda, was also ranked among the ten principal discples of Buddha. He was know for ¨the one that comes first in hearing the Dharma〃, that means he could learn most of the teaching of Buddha by heart.