Around the base of the Lamp of Wisdom are the 12 auspicious animal birth signs of the Chinese Calendar. This is the Ox which is 1973.

Base-plate on the Lamp of Wisdom.

The Lamp of Wisdom

In the centre of the upper courtyard (as can be seen from earlier posts) is the Lamp of Wisdom. There is some incredibly elaborate scrollwork around the lamp, again set dead-centre of the courtyard in the middle of the square formed by the crossing of the north-south and east-west paths.

Hall of Celestial Kings (different text)

Hall of Celestial Kings

Hall of Ksitigarbha (The Bell Tower)

Hall of Bhaisajyaguru (The Medicine Master)

The Hall of Avalokitesvara (The Goddess of Mercy)

Around the edges of the upper courtyard are various rooms with elaborate shrines and displays in with scenes from the history and worship od Buddhism. You are not allowed to take any pictures of the actual rooms themselves so I had to make do with taking pictures of the plaques outside which expplained what the rooms represented or showed.

West view of the upper/inner courtyard

Southview of the upper/inner courtyard

East view of the upper/inner courtyard

Northview of the upper/inner courtyard

The northwest lotus pool with the dragonhead fountains coming in from the sides of the pool. The pools themselves are the shape of two overlapping squares. Everything about the outer courtyard is symmetrical.

One of the bonsai trees by the northeast lotus pool

One of the Sutra Pillars. Stupidly I took the pic from this side so you can't see the engraved prayers but there is some lovely scrollwork around the bottom of the pillar.

Southwest and northwest quadrants showing lotus pools

Southeast and northeast quadrands showing lotus pools

The southside shot of the outer courtyard show ing the main entrance to the nunnery. In the four quadrants to the southeast, southwest, northeast and northwest are lotus pools with floating lillies and dragonhead fountaind puring in to keep the water fresh and clean. When you stand next to the lamp in the centre the sound of rushing water fills the air and drowns out the sounds of the city from all around. From down in the courtyard the sides of the pagoda roofs are high enough that yiu cant see any of the high rise buildings either and you could be in the middle of the countryside for all that you can see or hear.

A longer shot showing the entrance to the inner courtyard with the lamp in the centre. The two white pillars on either side are Sutra Pillars, in scribed with buddhist prayers.

In the centre of the outer courtyard is a lamp seen here. The countyard is built along a north/south axis with paths leading to the four compass points with this lamp in the dead centre.

The entrance to the main nunnery courtyard as seen from the middle of the lotus gardens

One stop away on the MTR (Mass Transit Railway) from the temple seen below is the Chi Lin Buddhist Nunnery. It was founded in the 1930's and is made of timber construction in the Tang Dynasty stlye. This is a shot overlooking the entrance to the Lotus Gardens.

The entrance/exit to the temple compound. Off to the left hand side you can just see the back of the coca cola delivery truck toping up the monks supplies. They're everywhere, just everywhere.

On the far side of the bridge in the picture below are some small pools with turtles and terrapins swimming around. More f the rock sculptures are placed in the water to give them a place where they can bask in the sunshine. If you click on this pic you should be able to see some on the bottom left hand corner of the rock, just out of the water

One of the many bridges in the complex behind the temple. In the background you can see the high rises of the Hong Kong skyline. If you spend much time in the temple courtyards you lose track of the fact that you are in the middle of a city and it fades away into the background, so it can be quite shocking when you walk out again and are confronted by a dual carriageway 100 yards from the front entrance.