Picture of the Great Prayer Hall in Xiangguo Temple

The Great Prayer Hall in Xiangguo Temple serves the magnificent four-sided statue of Avalokitesvara (the male Indian bodhisattva who became transfigured over the years into the female Guan Yin), with a thousand hands and a thousand eyes (all-seeing and compassionate), who stands surrounded by 500 Arhats. Weighing 2,000 kilograms (2.2 tons), the 7m (23-ft.) high statue was said to have been carved from the trunk of a thousand-year-old ginkgo tree and required 58 years to complete. It also has the three statues of Sakyamuni Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. The three statues symbolizes the past, present and future of human beings. The main buildings of the Xiangguo Temple are Grand Hall, the Octagonal Hall, the east and west chambers and other buildings holding Buddhist sutras. Today the Xiangguo Temple has become the center for Buddhist activities in the whole Henan province and one of the major Buddhist temples in northern China…