10,000 Buddhas

Today we went to the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery in the Shatin area of Hong Kong. The monastery was established 60 years ago and has five temples, four pavilions, and a multi-story pagoda. The monastery is located atop a tall hill/mountain, which meant walking up lots and lots of stairs and steep ramps. Gold Buddha statues, in all shapes and sizes, lined the path. A little rest was needed after reaching the top.

The main building of the monastery is the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple. Despite its name, there are over 12,800 Buddha statues placed on the walls.

At the center of the temple was the preserved body of the monastery’s founder (yep, you read that right) Reverend Yuet Kai. According to a brochure, after eight months of being buried, the reverend’s disciples removed his body from the coffin and found it the body perfectly preserved. The disciples then “coated the body with Chinese lacquer and gold leaves…and placed (the body) in front of the altar in the main temple for people to worship.” I was glad there was glass surrounding him.
We toured the extensive grounds, but didn't take many pictures. Unfortunately, much of the monastery was in a state of disrepair or under reconstruction.

Yet, some areas were well kept and peaceful.

The most exciting, fun, and surprising part of our day was our close encounters with wild monkeys on the monastery grounds. They were everywhere! Big furry monkeys, tiny baby monkeys, and everything in between. They leapt from tree to tree, sat on the heads of the bald Buddha statues, and hung from rooftops. Most ignored us, but some appeared a bit angry as we stopped to watch or take a picture – when we were leaving that we read a warning to not stare at monkeys as they consider it an act of aggression (oops!).

Just another day of unexpected entertainment in Hong Kong!