The pillars, railings, ceilings, stairs, handrails and thresholds of Tianning Tower are all made of nanmu, and the consumption reaches 5000 cubic meters. These nanmu trees come from the deep forests of Myanmar and Papua New Guinea. They are all raw materials, with a diameter of 1 m and a length of 9 meters and 6 meters respectively. Among them, there are 60 to 72 nanmu columns on each floor, with a total of 13 floors 1000, that is, wood 1000 cubic meters. The annex building on the first floor, with cornices extending more than 8 meters outside the tower, is all nanmu. Only on this floor, the wood of nanmu has 1300 cubic meters. Among the1000t bronze ornaments carried by Tianning Tower, the most striking one is the King Kong throne pagoda at the top of the tower. This pagoda gate is composed of lotus platform, elephant wheel, drum seat and flame plate. , made of 75 tons of brass. Considering the difficulty of installation, the whole tower gate was cast into five sections and then nested one by one. The excellent technology of casting and splicing makes the whole tower gate seamless. On the eaves of the pagoda, 50,000 bronze inscription tiles are covered with * *, and the bottom is a strip-shaped bronze bottom tile. The inscriptions on ceramic tiles are inspired by the inscriptions on ancient bronzes. This innovative design won the national patent of bronze inscription tile. In addition, the rafters on the roof, the watchboard and the arches on the eaves are all decorated with copper, and the arches that are no longer load-bearing are covered with copper bags, while the shape and size of the bucket arches completely conform to the ancient building rules. Among the existing Tallinns in China, the most famous is the Tallinn in Shaolin Temple. The newly-built Tianning Pagoda will be surrounded by 1000 jade pagodas and pagodas carved with white marble on the 6-story wall at the bottom of the pagoda, forming a grand gathering with Tianning Pagoda. Each pagoda is 65cm high and its base is 1.75m high. It is made of "Oriental White" jade from Ya 'an, Sichuan, and is carefully carved by folk artists from Hui 'an, Fujian and Quyang, Hebei, two famous towns in China. Among the 65,438+0,000 jade pagodas, 65,438+0,000 jade side plates converge into a Buddhist forest. The scriptures in the forest will be written by 500 eminent monks at home and abroad. So far, more than 200 scriptures written by eminent monks have been collected.
On the clock floor at the top of the pagoda 13, a clock weighing 15 tons is hung. It takes several people to surround the clock. The wall of the clock is as thick as a blue brick, and the pillars that ring the clock are thicker than the bowl. It takes several people to work together. The bell is far away, and the gospel spreads widely. Although this big clock is not the largest, its hanging height of 1 18 meters is enough to make it the tallest clock. "Senior High School First" and the eight characters inscribed by the abbot of Songcun in Tianning Temple are located on the north and south walls respectively. The other six walls are a complete volume of the Diamond Sutra, with 8,000 characters eight centimeters square, carved on the Millennium camphor wood, vigorous and simple, in one go. On the four inner walls of the First High Bell, there are four Yangzhou lacquer paintings, beautifully carved, full of gold, gorgeous and solemn. The four stickers of Hua Yan Dafa and Fa Hua Miao Dian are true.
Gold lacquer mural is the disgusting work of Jiangsu arts and crafts celebrities such as Lv Yonglin and Yang Zhongbao, and it is also the first time that Yangzhou lacquer painting entered the Buddha. Pagoda 13 floor, showing the grand occasion of Buddha Sakyamuni's lecture and the gathering of buddhas and immortals in Lingshan. The interpretation of this scene is five directions, five buddhas and four walls. Five directions and five buddhas are enshrined in five directions: east, west, north and south. In the center is a crystal stone Buddha, which can be regarded as the treasure of the town tower. This transparent ancient siddhattha gotama originated in India in16th century and was exiled to Europe in the last century. In 2003, Gao Peizhi, who loves China, welcomed him back to China and donated him to Tianning Tower. The other four-faced Buddha will be carved from white, ink, blue and red jade of Hetian jade and Kunlun jade in Xinjiang. Five Dhyani Buddhas shows the scene of the Buddha's lecture, while the four walls show the magnificent momentum of the pilgrimage of ten thousand buddhas. Each wall is 6 meters high and 2.4 meters high, and the carving technology is the best Dongyang woodcarving in China. More than a dozen Dongyang folk carving masters will show 500-600 people with different expressions and scenes on teak in eight months with a frontal carving process protruding more than 65,438+00 cm.
Stepping into the Tataji Square in Tianning, looking up, it is the "Dragon City Elephant Education" plaque hanging between the first and second floors of the pagoda, which is 5 meters high and 2 meters long. The four corners of the tower base are 5.3 meters high, and the four kings made of all copper are tall and majestic. Sword, pipa, umbrella and dragon are the four "magic weapons", which means praying for "good weather". On both sides of each statue, there are eight bronze elephants, each 3.2 meters high and 5 meters long. The other two Kowloon columns, 19.8 meters high and 3 meters in diameter, stand on both sides of the pagoda. The Kowloon Column is carved from granite and weighs more than 200 tons. The dragon elephant party in the square should also be called "Dragon City Elephant Teaching". In addition, there are two incense burners in the square, which are 5m long,1.8m wide and 2.8m high, making them the largest incense burners in China so far. Now we come to the main hall, that is, the Hall of Great Heroes, with nine ridges on the roof, 25.8 meters high, 28 meters deep, 26.4 meters wide and 30 meters high. It is the largest Buddhist temple in the whole temple. There are many brick carvings in the whole hall building, which is a major feature of Tianning Temple and is beyond the reach of other temples in the south of the Yangtze River. Almost all the front and back ridges of Daxiong Hall are inlaid with brick carvings, as well as various figures, flowers and birds and other images. They are all polished and carved with specially customized brick carvings, with slim and elegant shapes and vivid images. These ornaments are hollowed out in the middle, which not only reduces the roof load scientifically, but also weakens the wind. The upper end is equipped with "hanging flower basket" and "hanging Luo", which embodies the rich and luxurious court decoration style, and its exquisite structure fully embodies the characteristics of brick carving in Jiangnan.
The woodcarving in Tianning Temple is simple, magnificent and wonderful. There are three hexagonal "Xumishan" giant buddhas in the temple, also known as "King Kong" and "Lotus". The pedestal in front of the Buddha statue, the glass lamp hanging in the air, the altar of the Buddha statue and other large wood carvings form a series, resplendent and magnificent, setting off the sacred atmosphere of the pure land Buddha country. Mount Sumi is double-waisted, 3 meters high and 5.2 meters in circumference, with each petal 1 1 petal. The first layer of big petals is Buddha, the second layer is animal, and the third layer is flower. Judging from the wood carvings in the whole hall, they are exquisitely carved, gorgeous in shape, extensive in content and grand in style, which can be called the most temples in the south of the Yangtze River, and give people artistic enjoyment with wonderful workmanship.
After the Ursa Major Hall, I came to the Jade Buddha Hall. This is a rare feature of temples in the south of the Yangtze River. The jade buddhas here were all brought back from Myanmar, a Buddhist country. From March 1990 to February 1995, Tianning Temple invited 15 jade buddhas from Myanmar, including one from Dalin Temple in Wujin, one from Hongji Temple in Liyang and one from Chongqing Temple in Wuxi. At present, there are 12 jade Buddha. There are three large jade buddhas lying in Tianning Temple. The reclining Buddha in front of us is 5.3 meters long and weighs 12 tons. The other two are 3.8 meters long. Lying Buddha is the image of the Buddha at the age of 80. This horizontal position is called "auspicious lying". The recumbent statue is beautifully carved, with a quiet and kind face, eyes slightly closed, calm and comfortable, and no feeling of pain. Art reproduces the expression of Sakyamuni Buddha when he entered nirvana.