Hot property

By Mu Qian (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-07-02 10:51

According to historical records, there were 19 stupas that housed sarira in China during the Eastern Jin Dynasty (AD317-420), but some of these have fallen into oblivion. Today, besides the Famen Temple and Yunju Temple, some of the most famous sites for discovery of sarira in China are the Lingguang Temple of Beijing, Huqiu Stupa of Jiangsu, and Ashoka Temple of Zhejiang.

In recent years, there has been a craze for sarira in China, as a number of places claimed to have found sarira, including Yingxian county in Shanxi, Wenshang county in Shandong, and Liaoyang of Liaoning.

The Yunju Temple is the third to hold a ceremony related to sarira this year, after Famen Temple's inauguration of a new stupa to house its finger remains of Shakyamuni, on May 9; and Tianmenshan Temple's ceremony emplacing the sarira on June 8 in Zhangjiajie, Hunan.

Nearly 30,000 people attended the inauguration ceremony of the 148-m high Heshi Stupa of Famen Temple, including such celebrities as pop diva Faye Wong and kungfu star Jet Li, who are both lay Buddhists.

The sarira of Famen Temple has been exhibited not only in the Chinese mainland, but also in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand and the Republic of Korea, drawing more than 20 million visitors since its discovery in 1987, according to Xue Cheng, abbot of Famen Temple and vice-president of the Buddhist Association of China.

At the inauguration ceremony of the Heshi Stupa, Xue Cheng says: "The sarira has made immortal achievements in terms of constructing a harmonious society", and the Heshi Stupa is "a symbol of the prosperity of the Chinese nation".

For local governments, however, the sarira, is more of a resource to promote tourism and investment.

After the inauguration of the Heshi Stupa, ticket prices for Famen Temple have risen from 28 yuan ($4) to 120 yuan. Developed by a company under the government of the Qujiang New Area of Xi'an, a 9-sq-km Buddhism-themed tourism zone is being built beside the temple, including a sanitarium, eco-agricultural garden, medical center, amusement park, martial arts club, shopping mall, and a group of hotels and apartment buildings.

A key project of the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10) of Shaanxi province, the Famen Temple tourism zone is expected to achieve a yearly tourism income of 0.6 billion yuan ($88 million) by 2010, and 1.8 billion yuan by 2016.

Various Buddhist items in the Famen Temple are open for donations, which range from 4,800 yuan ($700) per year for a "heavenly tree" to a one-off 10 million yuan for a "dharma pole".

For the government of the Fangshan district of Beijing, where Yunju Temple is located, the sarira is also expected to spur local development. A Chinese Park of Sutra-Inscribed Stone Tablets, the biggest of its kind in the world, is being built beside the temple with an investment of more than 300 million yuan ($44 million).

According to Yang Haifeng, director of the Administration Office of Beijing (Fangshan) Historic and Cultural Tourism Quarter, an important part of the park will be an underground palace that will meet the requirements of protecting the sarira. The government of Fangshan district and the Yunju Temple hope then that the sarira will be kept there permanently.

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