Nanjing Linggu Temple

The Linggu Temple, (Lingu si) the Linggu pagoda and the Beamless Hall are situated on the eastern side of Purple Mountain. This area can be reached by a shuttle bus from the Mausoleum but the nicest approach is to take one of the numerous paths into the woods that head east from the Mausoleum . Just follow the signs along the route and you will eventually arrive at the Linggu Park containing a few interesting buildings.

The Beamless Hall is where the bus stops. This is an unusual construction built using only five columns and no beams. The Hall was originally used to display Buddhist statues but today there is a much less interesting and slightly bizarre exhibition of mannequins reenacting Chinese history throughout the ages!

Directly North of the Hall is the pretty Linggu Pagoda which affords great views of the surrounding countryside and the Nanjing city in the distance. The pagoda is sixty meters high and was built in the 1930s.

The Linggu Temple itself is a very active BuddhistTemple. Originally built in the Ming dynasty but recently restored, the Temple provides an insight into Chinese Buddhism and the everyday life of these monks. The Temple has a shrine containing the skull of the Chinese monk who went to India to collect the Buddhist scriptures.