Spellbound at the Yonghegong Lama Temple.....

Yours truly planned to visit this particular temple not because it is a temple but, well being a romantic airhead, someone with her head in the clouds with all the romanticized imperial stories of imperial China, I so wanted to see the place Prince Yinzhen, 4th prince of the Emperor Kangxi once lived in before he became Emperor Yongzheng  himself...... 

Blame it on stories like Scarlet Heart / Bubu Jinxin.... LOL

Anyway this gorgeous building was said to be originally built as a residence for court eunuchs before becoming the residence of Yinzhen (later Emperor Yongzheng) in 1694, and hence took the name Yonghegong.

In the year 1744, this majestic  residence became a lamasery. This resplendent building is endowed with the style of an imperial palace, making it distinctive from others. It occupies an area of 66,400 square meters (16 acres) and is described as a mini-palace with yellow glazed tiles on the roof and red walls circling the group of buildings.

 After his death, Yongzheng’s coffin was interred here, and the building was  turned over entirely to religious use. 

When you step foot into the entrance after paying for the entrance which cost you about RMB25, you will be greeted by a beautiful green shady walkway ....

Because of ancient imperial type architecture, every element of the temple is entirely symmetrical, with main halls on a north-south axis and wing halls on both sides. It comprises of a courtyard in the south and five main halls in separate courtyards in the north: the Hall of the Heavenly Kings, the Hall of Harmony and Peace, the Hall of Everlasting Blessings, the Hall of the Dharma Wheel and the Pavilion of Infinite Happiness.

 It is said that this gorgeous temple combines various architectural styles of the Han, the Manchu, the Mongolian and the Tibetan.

There is of course the quintessential pair of Chinese lions mingle with scents of incense here as well....

The red walls and stone lions, some  symbols which signifies that this building was originally the dwelling of an Imperial Family member...

What to see which I did not quite see as I was more interested in the architecture and exterior of the temple and also wanted to be polite and respectful since it is a temple, and my daughter and I are just visiting Muslims, so we just looked around outside......

However you can check out the amazing statues there are inside if you feel inclined to...

The Hall of the Heavenly Kings is the southernmost of the main halls, it served originally as the main entrance to the monastery. In the center of the hall stands a statue of the Maitreya Buddha, along the walls statues of the four Heavenly Kings are arranged.

Picture credit to curiouscatontherun.wordpress.com and is not mine

The Hall of Harmony and Peace is the main building of the temple. It houses three bronze statues of the Buddhas of the Three Ages, the statue of the Gautama Buddha (Buddha of the Present) is in the center, it is flanked by the statue of Kasyapa Matanga (Buddha of the Past, right) and the Maitreya Buddha (Buddha of the Future, left). Along the sides of the hall, the statues of the 18Arhats are placed. A mural in the hall shows the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara.

The Hall of Everlasting Protection was Emperor Yongzheng's living quarters as a prince and the place where his coffin was placed after his death. Today, a statue of the Bhaisajya-guru (healing Buddha) stands in this hall.

The Hall of the Wheel of the Law functions as a place for reading scriptures and conducting religious ceremonies. It contains a large statue of Je Tsongkhapa, founder of the Geluk School. The hall also contains the Five-Hundred-Arhat-Hill, a carving made of red sandalwood with statues of the arhats made from five different metals (gold, silver, copper, iron, and tin). (derived and taken from wikipedia)

Call me silly, but well, there were quite a numner of devotees and worshipers there and  so my daughter and I just did not want to get in the way or cause any discomfort, so I decided to just keep my distance...Besides, there were signages that no photography was allowed inside the temples....

Pavilion of Infinite Happiness: The Pavilion of Infinite Happiness, the last main hall, is also the highest hall of this temple. It is a three-storey building, accompanied by two smaller pavilions. In the main hall, a huge statue of Maitreya is positioned which the seventh Dalai  Lama bought from Nepal and took a great 3 years to finally get it presented to the Emperor Qianlong, the son of Emperor Yongzheng.

Picture taken from beijing.english.china.org.cn

 The entire statue which is carved from a rare white sandal tree is 26 meters (85 feet) in height and eight meters (26 feet) in diameter, with eight meters (26 feet) buried under the ground. A niche for Buddha in the assistant hall is another excellent woodcarving which is carved with ninety-nine lifelike dragons.

Both my daughter and I enjoyed our visit there. It is certainly a glorious place as befitting an imperial prince....

Subway Line 2 or 5: get off at Yonghegong Station, get out of the station from Exit C (Southwest Exit), and walk south about 400 meters, then you'll find it on the east side of the road.