Luohan Temple, formerly known as Zhiping Temple, is said to have been built in the Northern Song Dynasty during the Zhiping period, and it is also believed that it was built in the Tang Dynasty. The authenticity of these two statements remains to be studied, but the Luohan Temple, which has gone through many years, is actually no longer what it looked like it was back then. Luohan Temple was originally not well-known, but in 2006, the popular movie "Crazy Stone" directly made it popular and gained the attention of foreign tourists.
The most well-known in the temple are the statue of the 500 arhats and the Buddha statue carved on the rock, but the former did not exist in the temple for a long time. At the end of the 19th century, the temple had an arhat hall with 500 arhat statues. In the bombing of Chongqing, the Luohan Temple was razed to the ground, leaving only the Dashan Gate and the Buddha statue carved on the rock. With the efforts of the monks of the Luohan Temple, the Luohan Hall and the main hall, the Tibetan Scripture Building, and the mountain gate archway were restored in 1947. During the Cultural Revolution, 500 arhats were devastated by the Red Guards. It was not until 1984 that the government allocated a special fund to reshape the statue of the Arhat, and the Arhat Hall was reborn two years later.
Counting arhats is a folk custom, and it is also an experience class for many tourists. There are three ways to count: "do as you like", "go with the flow", "male left, female right", in addition to the first one is more free, the latter two are counted directly after choosing the direction. Tourists count the corresponding Arhats according to their age, remember the Arhat number, find the staff at the door, and pay to get a signed ticket, which has various "divination" results for their future, suitable for tourists who have a strong interest in Buddhist culture.
Compared with the Arhat statue, the Buddha statue carved in the rock has the charm of the existence of the years. There are more than 400 stone carved Buddha statues inherited from the Song Dynasty on the ancient Buddha rock of more than 20 meters long in the temple, among which there are the reclining Buddha Nirvana statue, Guanyin statue and offering person statue that are like the stone carving of Dazu Baoding Mountain, etc., which reflects the popularity of the Buddha statue carved in the folk at that time.
Today, the Luohan Temple, located in the middle of the city, appears to be relatively small, but it does not prevent its large number of visitors. Luohan Temple, together with the scenic spots around the Liberation Monument, has become the impression of Chongqing in the hearts of many tourists
Information Reference
Tickets: 10 RMB/person
Opening hours: 08:00-17:00
