The Sutra Pillar of the Ksitigarbha Temple is located in the original ancient pillar park at the Tuodong Street of Kunming City, Yunnan Province.
The Sutra Pillar of the Ksitigarbha Temple, also called the Sutra Pillar of Dali Kingdom, is commonly known as the Ancient Pillar. It was built to release the soul of Gao Mingsheng, a son of Shanshan Marquis Gao Guanyin by Yuan Douguang, a Buxie (name of an government official) of the Dali Kingdom(937-1253). The Sutra Pillar was unearthed when a park was built on the ruins of the Ksitigarbha Temple in 1923, and was moved to the park subsequently.
The pillar looks like a pagoda. It is a seven-storeyed stone construction with an octagon underside and a total height of 8.30 meters. Its first floor is a drum-shaped pillar base, with the completeNotes on the Construction of the Honor Sutra Pillarby Dali Kingdom Buddhist Buxie Yuan Douguang in Chinese and sutras such asSutra of the Buddha's Teaching OnPrajna-paramita-hrdaya,Vairocana Buddha Vowing Sutra, and so on in Sanskrit. The second floor is carved with four Guardian Kings (Caturmaharajas) andDharani Sutrain Sanskrit; four immortals and sitting statues of Sakyamuni are engraved on the four corners respectively. Four Guardian Kings face to four directions, with coronets on the head, armors on the body, axes and swords in the hands, defeated Yaksa under the feet, and about 1.20 to 1.30 meters in height. Upper floors, from the third to the seventh floor, are carved with Tantra statues such as Bodhisattva, Guardian Kings, redpolls, halls and flying immortals. Altogether, there are 300 exquisite and beautiful josses. Larger josses are one meter in height, while small ones are from five to seven centimeters, and the smallest one are 3 centimeters only. A lotus throne and several beads lie on the top of pillar. Because of its exquisite design and skillful carving, the sutra pillar is full of character of Tantra figures, and is praised to be an art masterpiece of central Yunnan Province. Recording many historical materials about the regime separation of Da Li district, the pillar becomes a reflection of the relation between Shanshan state (today's Kunming) and the Song Dynasty (960-1279). The pillar is of high historic and artistic value.
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