Kaiyuan Temple (Quanzhou)

Kaiyuan Temple
開元寺
The Mahavira Hall at the Kaiyuan Temple
Religion
Affiliation	Buddhism, Hinduism
District	Licheng
Prefecture	Quanzhou
Province	Fujian
Location
Country	China
Shown within Fujian Show map of Fujian Kaiyuan Temple (Quanzhou) (China) Show map of China
Prefecture	Quanzhou
Geographic coordinates	24°55′00″N 118°34′52″E / 24.9168°N 118.5810°E / 24.9168; 118.5810
Architecture
Style	Chinese architecture
Founder	Huang Shougong (黄守恭)
Date established	686
Completed	686
Site area	78,000
Website
http://www.qzdkys.com/
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Location	China
Part of	Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China
Criteria	Cultural: (iv)
Reference	1561
Inscription	2021 (44th Session)

Kaiyuan Temple (simplified Chinese: 开元寺; traditional Chinese: 開元寺; pinyin: Kāiyuán Sì; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Khai-gôan-sī) is a Buddhist temple located in West Street, Quanzhou, China, and is considered as the largest Buddhist temple in Fujian province with an area of 78,000 square metres (840,000 sq ft).^[1][2] The central figures of veneration in the temple are the Five Tathāgathas from Chinese Esoteric Buddhism who are enshrined in the temple's Mahavira Hall. In 2021, the temple was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List along with other sites near Quanzhou because of its importance during the medieval global maritime trade based in Quanzhou and its testimony to the global exchange of ideas and cultures.^[3] The temple is also one of few in China to contain Hindu monuments, left there by traders from Southern India. It is of Buddhist Dense-Eaves architecture and is most famous for the largest stone pagodas in the world, the twin pagodas of Zhenguo and Renshou, which were completed using stone during the Song Dynasty.