Hui Gen, was an abbot who went to Tibet and then Burma on a pilgrimage. While there, he was gifted with 5 incredible jade Buddha statues. Two of these statues, Hui Gen brought back to Shanghai and built a temple in 1882 and placed them there. However 1911 saw an uprising, which resulted in the destruction of the temple. Thankfully the statues were kept safe and years later in 1928 another shrine was constructed on the same premises and the Buddha statues were restored to their rightful place. This temple came to be known as the JadeBuddhaTemple.
Made to house the two jade statues, the temple however boasts of numerous other statues and important Buddhist sculptures. The temple consists mainly of the Tian Wang Dian Hall, the Grand Hall and the JadeBuddhaTower. The first contains the statues of the Four Heavenly Kings and Maitreya Buddha. The second – also known as the Great Hall -houses a number of statues, mainly the three large golden Buddhas of the past, present and future, as well as 18 Arhats- also in gold. Other sculptured heavenly beings line the sides of this hall.
The JadeBuddhaTower requires a special entrance fee, but is certainly worth it, to see the rare and elaborate art work. One of the jade Buddhas is in a seated position and is around 190 cm in height. It is encrusted with emerald and agate making it even more precious and intricate in value. The other jade Buddha statue is in a reclining position and shares a room with a replicate statue done in marble – from Singapore. The jade statue is 95 cm in length whilst its replica is 4 meters in length.
Well worth a visit, the temple is an important and popular traveller’s attraction. If visitors seek Shanghai executive apartments, then a Shanghai Serviced Residence such as the Somerset Xu Hui, would be an ideal place to base themselves from to take in the attractions of Shanghai.
