Jinnaluo Tang; Kimnara Hall

This hall is situated to the east of Ducting Hall, north of the Bell Tower. It used to be a three-room structure. Three statues of Jin Na Luo ((Kimnara) were once consecrated in it.

The one in the middle was a rattan statue; the left one was cast of copper, and the right one of iron. They were all wonderfully shaped. Kimnara was regarded as one of the protecting deities of the temple; and according to the Buddhist doctrine, he is also one of the eight deties protecting Buddhism.

"Prince Kimnara, surnamed Xu, became a Buddhist monk of Shaolin in the Yuan Dynasty. After hard learning and devoted practice, he finally succeeded in becoming a Guardian Bodhissattva of Shaolin Temple. There used to be three statues of Prince Kimnara in the hall, one made of rattan, one cast in bronze and one in iron, and on both sides there used to be two stones tablets with Kinmara's image engraved on them during the Northern Period. The original hall was destroyed by war in 1928. It was rebuild and repainted in 1982 after the original model. Three new statues of Prince Kimnara were recast."

Next is: Daxiong Baodian; Daxiong Hall