Famen Temple: Putting the finger on China's Buddhist past

Famen Temple, located about 120 km west from the ancient capital of Xi'an in Shaanxi province, is one of the most famous Buddhist sites in China, not least for the fact that it is the home of one of only three existing physical remains of the body of Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism. The name of the temple, Famen, comes from a Buddhist term signifying the initiation of novices to the Buddhist doctrine.

At the center of the temple area stands a 13-story, 47-meter tall octagon-shaped pagoda. An underground crypt housing a priceless 1,000-year-old Buddhist relic, or sarira, the finger bone of Sakyamuni, is located directly beneath the tower. The small, circular-shaped crypt is lined on the inside with white marble and limestone tiles.

According to the Travel China Guide, emperors of the Sui and Tang dynasties believed that worshiping the finger bone of Sakyamuni would bring prosperity and peace to the land and its people. As a result, an offering of a treasure of money and other valuables was made to the bone and both were placed in the crypt, which they called the "Underground Palace."

The famous finger bone rests on a golden pedestal enclosed behind a glass pane in the middle of the tomb-like space and photographing it is not allowed. When the crypt was discovered, a total of four “finger bones” were found in the vault, only one of them, however, was authentic. A shrine with flowers and candles and other religious objects stands in front of the relic, which is kept under close watch by monks from the temple. In May of this year, the sarira exhibition will be moved to another pagoda being constructed in the proximity of the original.

The current pagoda, also called a stupa, was built in the 1980s and holds a total of 88 shrines for Buddha, ten on each floor, with the exception of the bottommost and topmost floors. The pagoda itself is not open to the public, with the exception of the underground crypt.

Sakyamuni's finger bone is enshrined in a crypt beneath the pagoda. (Image: Radio86)A few hundred meters to the left of the pagoda stands a traditional Chinese-style brown and white museum building constructed in 1989. It houses more than 300 relics that were a part of the collection of objects dating from the Tang dynasty (618-907) discovered from the crypt when the site was being prepared for construction in 1987.

The artifacts displayed at the museum include magnificent gold, silver, porcelain, stone, lacquer and wood objects, sacrificial objects, silk articles and stone figures, among others. A nearly two-meter long gold-plated abbot's staff found there constitutes the oldest and biggest Buddhist object ever found. The treasure also included a total of 27,000 coins. Other prized items include a set of 13 royal china pieces that could not be reproduced today because the techniques for making them have been lost in the ravages of time. Taking photographs is not allowed inside the museum.

The pagoda is situated at the center of a temple complex that is still in active use. There are numerous shrines dedicated to Buddha scattered around the temple area and people are welcome to burn incense sticks and pray in front of them. Thus, for many Chinese and international visitors, a trip to the Famen Temple constitutes a religious pilgrimage.

History shrouded in mystery

The Famen Temple pagoda has 13 stories. (Image: Radio86)Curiously, there are no official records of exactly when the Famen Temple was first built. According to Buddhist records, it was most likely at the end of the Eastern Han dynasty (25-220).

The temple was destroyed during the Northern Zhou dynasty (557–581), but rebuilt immediately in the following Sui dynasty period (581-618) - just in time before the start of the Tang dynasty and the golden age of Buddhism. The temple had, however, already become a major destination of Buddhist pilgrims during the Sui dynasty.

Famen Temple is the biggest and one of the most important Buddhist temples in China. The temple was first called Asoka Stupa after Ashoka the Great (272-236 BCE), an Indian king who firmly believed that Buddhism was beneficial for all human beings and thus had 84,000 stupas and temples built for Buddhist monks all over South Asia and Central Asia.

The golden era of the temple lasted from the North Wei dynasty to the Tang dynasty, during which numerous significant Buddhist ceremonies were held at the site. During the period of the Republic of China (1912 - 1949) the temple suffered a great deal of damage but has been under the protection of the People's Government since the founding of the People's Republic of China. At present, the temple has not only been restored to its original state, but has also been expanded on an even grander scale.

A new rise

The temple museum houses the collection of priceless relics found during the renovation of the pagoda. (Image: Radio86)According to historical records, the original wooden stupa collapsed in 1569 due to an earthquake. Ten years later, Buddhists in the area started collecting money to rebuild it using bricks. The ensuing construction work took 30 years to complete. However, because of the massive weight of the stupa on top of the small underground crypt, the structure began to tilt fifty-four years after its completion. Finally in 1981, the entire western side of the structure fell, after having survived a strong earthquake in the 1970s and countless floods.

In 1985, the Shaanxi Provincial Government decided to rebuild the stupa using brickwork imitating that of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). It was during this renovation project that the crypt housing the sarira was first discovered. According to the website ChinaCulture.org, the finger bone found at the Famen Temple, a tooth found at the Lingguang Temple in western Beijing and another tooth relic enshrined in a temple in Kandy, Sri Lanka, constitute the only existing remains of the real body of Sakyamuni left in the world.

Famen Temple is one of the most popular historic sites in western Shaanxi, having received about 10 million visitors over the past 20 years. However, if you are not that much into Buddhism or if long car rides bore you, a visit to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an city center may suffice to satisfy your pagoda-viewing needs.

How to get there: Take tour line 2 from Xi'an train station.

Ticket prices:
Famen Temple: 28 yuan
Temple Museum: 50 yuan (Mar. to Nov.)
30 yuan (Dec. to Feb.)
(subject to change)

Opening hours: 8am to 4pm