Diamond throne tower

Diamond throne tower

Vajra throne tower is Vajra throne tower, which is a kind of pagoda building form of Buddhism Tantra. It originated in India. The earliest existing Vajra throne pagoda is the Bodhisattva Buddha Pagoda in India. The architectural style of Vajra throne tower is composed of a square tower base (Vajra throne) and five towers on the top. There are many kinds of pagodas on the throne, such as dense eaves, pavilions, covered bowls and so on. Some of them are also built on the top of Buddhist buildings.

The throne of Vajra represents the altar of Vajra Department of Tantrism. The five pagodas represent the five Buddhists of the Jin Gang kingdom. In the middle is the dari Tathagata Buddha. In the East is the ch ù Buddha. In the south is the Baosheng Buddha. In the west is the Amitabha Buddha. In the north is the Bukong achievement Buddha.

Vajra throne tower is also a form of Tantric Mandala.

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Diamond throne tower in China

The existing King Kong pagodas in China are: the King Kong pagoda of Zhenjue temple (five Pagoda Temple) in Beijing, the King Kong pagoda of Biyun temple in Xiangshan, Beijing, the Qingjing Miaoyu pagoda of Xihuang temple in Beijing, the King Kong relic pagoda of cideng temple in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, and the King Kong pagoda of Guandu ancient town in Kunming.

Jingang throne tower of Zhenjue temple in Beijing

Jingang pagoda of Beijing Zhenjue temple is located on the North Bank of Changhe River to the east of Baishi bridge outside Xizhimen, Haidian District, Beijing. Because its form is built on a high platform with five small stone towers, commonly known as five pagodas temple tower.

The pagoda is located in Zhenjue temple, which was built in Yongle period of Ming Dynasty. According to historical records, in the early years of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, bandida, an Indian monk, came to Beijing from the western regions and presented five golden Buddhas and the Indian style "Buddha gayata", which is the King Kong throne, to Zhu Di, the founder of the Ming Dynasty. Chengzu of Ming dynasty built a temple on the North Bank of Changhe River (now Gaoliang River) outside Xiguan (now Xizhimen), named Zhenjue. Later, the King Kong throne tower was built according to the regulations provided by bandida, and was completed in 1473, the ninth year of Chenghua in the Ming Dynasty. The post temple was destroyed in the early 20th century.

Among the few existing pagodas of this kind in China, the diamond throne pagoda of Zhenjue temple is the earliest and the most exquisite.

The inner part of Zhenjue temple tower in Beijing is made of brick, and the outer part is made of blue and white stone. The lower part of the pagoda is a slightly rectangular stone platform base of xumizuo type, with Sanskrit, Buddha statues, magic tools and other ornaments carved on the periphery of the platform base. On the platform base is the seat of Vajra throne. The seat has five layers. Each layer has a short stone eaves, which are carved with tube tiles, hook heads, dripping water and rafters. Under the short eaves, there are all Buddhist niches. Each niche is carved with a Buddha sitting in it, and flowers are carved between them The stone pillars decorated with vase patterns are separated by each other, and the capitals are carved with brackets to support the short eaves. In the middle of the north and south sides of the throne, there is a ticket door, which leads into the tower room. On the surface of the arch, there are gold winged birds, lions, elephants, peacocks and flying sheep. On the south side of the gate, there is a stone plaque engraved with the inscription "the throne of King Kong was built by imperial edict, and it was made on the second day of November in the ninth year of Chenghua of the Ming Dynasty". The South Gate enters the tower room. There is a square tower pillar in the center. There is a Buddha niche on each side of the pillar. The original Buddha statue in the niche no longer exists. On the East and west sides of the room, there are 44 stone steps, which spiral up to the pavilion on the top of the throne. The pavilion is made of glazed brick and imitated wood structure. There are also a ticket door in the north and south of the pavilion, which leads to the top of the throne, surrounded by stone barriers.

To the north of the glass pavilion are five small stone pagodas with dense eaves. The small pagoda is square. The middle one is higher, with 13 eaves. The top is a bronze pagoda shaped temple. It is said that the five golden Buddhas brought by Indian eminent monks are hidden in this pagoda. The small Pagoda in the four corners is slightly lower than that in the center, with eleven eaves and a stone structure. The sculptures of the five pagodas are also concentrated on xumizuo under the eaves of the pagoda and the first layer of the pagoda, with the same decoration as the throne. Only in the middle of the south side of the tower seat of the central tower, there is a pair of Buddha feet, which means that Buddha footprints all over the world.

King Kong Pagoda in Guandu ancient town of Kunming

Guandu diamond throne tower, formerly known as Miaoying lanruo tower of miaozhan temple, also known as Chuanxin tower and Diamond Tower, is located in Guandu ancient town in the southeast of Kunming. Guandu diamond pagoda is the oldest known diamond throne Pagoda in China, and it is also the only stone pagoda built with sand and stone in China. Compared with the diamond pagoda of Zhenjue temple, Biyun temple in Xiangshan and Wuta temple in Hohhot, the carving of Guandu diamond pagoda is less exquisite, but more simple and elegant.

Liang Sicheng, an architect, in his essay "ramble on pagodas", specially talks about the Vajra throne pagoda of miaozhan temple in Guandu, Zhenjue temple Pagoda in Beijing and Biyun Temple Pagoda in Northwest China as valuable examples of Chinese Lama pagodas. It is an extremely precious cultural relic for studying the history, architecture and art of Chinese Tantric Buddhism.

According to the stele of building a pagoda on the west wall of the pagoda, the diamond pagoda of Guandu was first built during the reign of Yuan Zhizheng (1341-1367), rebuilt tomorrow at shunwuyin (1458), and rebuilt during the reign of Kangxi. It has been 600 years since it was first built. It is even earlier than the zhenjuedong Temple Pagoda in Beijing, which is known as the ancestor of China's King Kong throne pagoda. In order to solve the problem of the tower sinking, in 2002, the cultural relics department used engineering technology to lift the whole Diamond Tower by 2.6 meters.

The common feature of Vajra throne tower is that five towers are built on the square base. The central tower is large and the four corner tower is small. This is the mantra (altar) of Vajra sect of Tantric school, which is dedicated to Vajra five Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.

On the square throne of Guandu diamond pagoda, there are five covered bowl type pyramidal pagodas (the same style as the White Pagoda of Miaoying temple in Beijing). The main tower in the center of Guandu diamond pagoda is Fangji xumizuo, which is surrounded by four corner strongmen arch guards, and the front is embossed with five Buddha mounts of lion, elephant, double horse, peacock and gallow. Seven lotus petals are laid on the base layer upon layer to protect the pagoda. The pagoda body is covered with a bowl, with eye-opening light doors on all sides and four Buddha inscriptions.

The Tasha is a wheel of thirteen heavenly phases. It has a bronze umbrella cover and a hanging eight bell duo. The top of the Tasha is a treasure vase and a mani bead. As the great Prajna Sutra says: ceiling hanging cover, Baoduo pearl flag, Qi decorated with fanlun, can love music.

There are four coupons in the East, West, North and south of the base of Vajra tower. The cross runs through and the dome of the coupons hole is inlaid with copper and gold wheels. The four corners of the golden wheel are decorated with cloud patterns, and the eight leaf lotus is embossed in the center. The eight Tathagata sits in the center, and the Tathagata sits alone in the middle. There are nine Buddhas in total. It is the "nine meeting mandala of the golden Gang".

In 1996, the State Council listed the tower as a national key cultural relic for protection.

Jingangzuo relic Pagoda in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia

The Vajra Pagoda in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, is located in the southeast of the old city of Hohhot. It was built during the reign of Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty (1723-1735). It was originally a building in the cideng Temple (commonly known as the five Pagoda Temple). The other buildings in the temple have already collapsed, and only this tower stands alone.

Vajra stupa is mainly composed of Vajra stupa and five square stupas. This form of pagoda appeared later in China and is rare. The tower is of masonry structure, with a height of about 13 meters and a rectangular plane. Beautiful shape, rigorous proportion, in the architectural art has a high attainments. The outside of the tower is decorated with carved glazed tiles, and the edges and corners are inlaid with white stones. The brilliant glaze is used for the peach eaves and pagoda temples with strong light, which are the key decoration.

The plane of Vajra seat is in the shape of "convex". It is built on a platform about one meter high. The lower part of the seat is xumizuo, and the waist part is decorated with brick patterns such as lion, elephant, Falun, golden winged bird and Vajra pestle. There are seven short overhanging eaves on the upper part of the seat. Under the first eaves are inlaid with Vajra scriptures written in Mongolian, Tibetan and Sanskrit languages. The carving is meticulous. From the second floor to the seventh floor, there are 1119 gold-plated Buddha statues in various postures.

There is an arch in the middle of the south side of the Vajra seat, and there are four statues of heavenly kings beside it. On the middle of the door is a white jade plaque of "Vajra seat relic pagoda" written in Mongolian, Tibetan and Chinese characters. Inside the tower is a semicircle brick arch. Inside the door, there is a ladder at the East and West corners of the beamless hall, which leads to the top of the tower. At the exit is a Square Pavilion. In the north of the pavilion, there are five square relic pagodas, among which the small pagodas are seven stories out of eaves, and the four corner pagodas are all five stories out of eaves. The five pagodas are inlaid with brick carvings of Buddha, Bodhisattva, bodhi tree and Jingyun. The carvings are exquisite and beautiful. On the north side of the pagoda, there are three carved stone lines, including the "Xumi mountain distribution map" and the "six paths reincarnation map" on the West. There are stone carvings of Mongolian astronomical map embedded in the back of the tower, which are rarely marked with minority characters. They are important materials for studying the history of astronomy.

architectural style

The overall shape of China's King Kong pagoda belongs to the Indian form, but in the western structure, it often integrates the unique traditional style of Chinese architecture and becomes a creative masterpiece of the combination of Chinese architecture and foreign culture.

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