James Baquet

    jamesbaquet@gmail.com

    BAIMA Temple in Luoyang is reputedly the first Buddhist temple in ancient China. Named for the white horses (baima) that brought two monks from India, it retains a special relationship with the Indian people.

    As my wife and I entered the grounds, the first thing we noticed was a huge dome-like building inspired by the famous Buddhist structure at Sanchi in India.

    It was paid for by the Indian Government, and the Buddha inside was also a gift from India.

    Entering the gate to the main temple compound between statues of the two horses, we found, in the far left and right front corners, the two earthen mounds holding the remains of Kashyapamtanga and Dharmaraksha, the two monks from India who are supposed to have come here in the year 64.

    Outside the main compound and across a small street stands the Qiyun Pagoda, also associated with the monks. Though the current structure was built in 1165, 50 years before that a wooden structure which was alleged to have been built in the year 64 had burned. It in turn had been built on a mystical mound which held (they say) a relic of the Buddha, sent by King Ashoka of India a few hundred years earlier.

    The main grounds also hold a fine museum and a memorial hall to the two founding monks.

    We caught a taxi a short distance east to the foundation of another pagoda. Called Yongning, it was 147 meters high and could be seen from 50 kilometers away. When it caught fire in 534 (just 18 years after it was built), it burned for three months. The foundation remains, and has never been built over.