Niushou Mountain Cultural Tourism Area in Nanjing, Jiangsu | Buddha's top bone relics, three floors above ground, six floors underground

Niushou Mountain is located next to Ningdan Avenue in Jiangning District, Nanjing. Niushou Mountain is also known as Tianque Mountain. The top bone relics of Sakyamuni Buddha are enshrined on the mountain, also known as the "Buddha's top". Niushou Mountain Ruins Park is mainly composed of Buddha's Top Temple, Buddha's Top Pagoda, and Buddha's Top Palace. The Buddha's Top Palace is a deep pit building. Its dome construction almost completely replicates the style of the Buddha's top bun provided in traditional temples. The difference is that behind its bun, people have put on a golden cassock made of light metal. During the Southern Dynasty, Buddhism was prevalent, and there was a Buddha Cave Temple (now Hongjue Temple) south of Niushou Mountain. In the sixth year of Tang Taizong's Zhenguan era (AD 632), Niushou Mountain became the birthplace of the Buddhist "Ox Head Sect" (Ox Head Zen). The relics enshrined in Niushou Mountain are the only surviving Buddha's top bone relics in the world. Because these relics symbolize the most intelligent brain of mankind, they are extremely precious and can be called the unique and supreme sacred object in the Buddhist world today. This Buddha's top bone relic was unearthed in the underground palace of Changgan Temple in Nanjing in July 2008. The three floors above ground are the dome hall "Zen Scenery Grand View". A huge reclining Buddha is enshrined in the center of the Zen Scenery Grand View. The full-length 7.5-meter bronze cast Sakyamuni reclining statue can slowly rotate 360 degrees, showing the Buddha's peaceful and serene Nirvana realm. In the Thousand Buddha Hall on the six underground floors, the most eye-catching is the Relic Holy Pagoda. The pagoda is modeled on the inverted Sumeru Mountain-shaped central pillar in the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, and its appearance is extremely exquisite and gorgeous, symbolizing the pure and solemn Huazang world. And the Buddha's top bone relics are enshrined in this pagoda. Niushou Mountain is bathed in Buddha's light all year round, with lake water and mist, like a fairyland, and has become one of the "four famous places in Jinling" together with Qinhuai River, Xuanwu Lake, and Zijin Mountain. 📍Detailed address: Niushou Mountain Cultural Tourism Area: No. 18 Ningdan Avenue, Jiangning District, Nanjing, Jiangsu Ticket: 160 yuan/person