The Jade Buddha Temple in west Shanghai was built to house two jade Buddha statues, brought all the way from Burma by a monk. One of these statues is of a sitting Buddha almost 2 meters tall and weighing about 3 tonnes. The second statue is 96 centimeters long shows Buddha reclining on his right sight, his right head supporting his head. More recently, a larger reclining Buddha statue, a gift from Singapore, was added to the temple. All three statues are exquisitely carved from whole pieces of milky white jade.

Statues of the Four Heavenly Kings stand guard at the front of the temple itself. Further in, the Great Hall has many statues within it, including three golden Buddhas, the twenty gods of heaven, 18 arhats, Guanyin and Shen Cai and his 53 teachers. The three jade Budhhas are kept in an inner chamber specially built to house them, along with over seven thousand Dazang Sutras, ancient scriptures that are irreplacable.

Though the Jade Buddha Temple is only a little over a century old, its architecture and layout are much the same as more ancient temples. There are insence burners around the grounds, as well as the chimes and bells which form such an essintial part of Buddhist temples. There’s also plenty of greenery all over the grounds

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