Po Lin Monastery is a

Buddhist monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which may ...

, located on

Ngong Ping Ngong Ping () is a highland in the western part of Lantau Island, Hong Kong. It hosts Po Lin Monastery and Tian Tan Buddha amidst the hills which is about 34 m tall. There are several hills nearby which are also an attraction to tourists. It is ...

Plateau, on

Lantau Island Lantau Island (also Lantao Island, Lan Tao or Lan Tau) is the largest island in Hong Kong, located west of Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula, and is part of the New Territories. Administratively, most of Lantau Island is part of the ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. The monastery was founded in 1906 by three monks visiting from

Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...

Province on the Chinese mainland and was initially known simply as "The Big Hut" ( zh, t=大茅蓬, j=daai6 maau4 pung4). It was renamed to its present name in 1924. The main temple houses three bronze statues of the Buddha – representing his past, present and future lives – as well as many Buddhist scriptures. Tian Tan Buddha, a giant Buddha statue completed in 1993, is an extension of the monastery. The Ngong Ping 360, consisting of the

village and a

gondola lift A gondola lift is a means of cable transport and type of aerial lift which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of steel wire rope that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate suppo ...

running between Tung Chung (東涌) and Ngong Ping (昂坪), was built near to the Po Lin Monastery. The monastery boasts many prominent architectural structures, such as the Main Shrine Hall of Buddha, the Hall of Bodhisattva Skanda. This monastery is also noted for making wooden bracelets that are only sold near the Tian Tan Buddha statue. In 1918, three

nuns A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of Evangelical counsels, poverty, chastity, and obedience in the Enclosed religious orders, enclosure of a monastery or convent.' ...

ordained at this monastery established a private nunnery called Chi Chuk Lam () on Lantau's Lower Keung Hill (). The nunnery is dedicated to

Guanyin Guanyin () is a common Chinese name of the bodhisattva associated with Karuṇā, compassion known as Avalokiteśvara (). Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, which means " he One WhoPerceives the Sounds of the World". Originally regarded as m ...

, the Goddess of Mercy. There were about 20 '' jushi'' and nuns residing there in the 1950s, but now only an elderly abbess remains.

References

External links

*
Official website
{{Islands District Buddhist temples in Hong Kong 1906 establishments in Hong Kong Buddhist monasteries in Hong Kong Ngong Ping Religious organizations established in 1906

See also

References

External links