Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery

Founded in 1949 by the monk Yuet Kai and finished in 1957, the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery sits on a hillside above Sha Tin and is reached by climbing around four hundred and thirty steps flanked the whole way by life-size gilded statues of arhats, each with a different face, pose and animal, which makes the ascent the memorable part of the visit. At the top, the main hall is lined floor to ceiling with small buddha figures numbering close to thirteen thousand, and a nine-storey pagoda stands in the courtyard. The founder's body, preserved after his death and covered in gold leaf, is displayed in a case. Monkeys live on the path and take food from bags.

History

The monastery was founded in 1949 by the Venerable Yuet Kai, who had come to Hong Kong from mainland China in 1938 to teach Buddhism, on land that had held a temple to Kwun Yam; the owner of a local tobacco company bought it and gave it to him for a Buddhist college, which was never built. Yuet Kai and his followers built the monastery by hand, carrying materials up from the foot of the hill and paying for the work with donations, and it was finished in 1957, though statues were still being added into the 2000s. Yuet Kai died in 1965, and his embalmed body is displayed in the main hall. No monks have ever lived here; laypeople run it, and after his death it was looked after by his nephews. A mudslide on 2 July 1997 killed the caretaker, and the monastery was shut for three years; it was renovated in 1982, 1997 and 2005 (Wikipedia, Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery).

The main sights

• The arhat stairway - hundreds of gilded life-size figures lining the climb.
• Thirteen thousand small buddhas - the statuettes covering the main hall.
• The nine-storey pagoda - the tower in the upper courtyard.
• The founder's gilded body - preserved and displayed in a case.

When to go

October to April; the climb is punishing in summer heat. Two hours. Mornings are quieter. It closes in the late afternoon.

What to expect

There are no monks in residence; it is a site rather than a working monastery. The climb is long and hot. Monkeys snatch food and plastic bags. Unofficial signs at the bottom try to divert visitors to a different temple; follow the official ones.

Nearby

Sha Tin is below; Che Kung temple lies west.

Key facts