Niushou Mountain Cultural Tourism Scenic Area

Nanjing Niushou Mountain is located in Jiangning District of Nanjing. It is one of the four famous places in Jinling.A Niushou Mountain, half of the history of Nanjing. Niushou Mountain has beautiful natural scenery and is known as the “Spring Bull Head”; The beautiful scenery of Niushou Mountain in spring has been widely known.  With profound culture, it is the location for battle against Jin Wuzhu led by Yuefei and tomb of Zheng He. With abundant Buddhism culture, Niutou Sect of Chinese Zen Buddhism is cultivated and developed here.

Usnisa Palace

Located in the west peak of Niushou mountain, Usnisa Palace belongs to the pit construction, which is 220 meters long, 160 meters wide and 89.3 meters high. The single building area covers about 136,000 square meters. It is based on different supporting themes. According to different supporting contents, the outside space is divided into two parts: the large dome and the small dome, meaning external supporting and internal supporting. The inside space consist of nine floors, with 6 floors underground and 3 floors on the ground. The 6 floors underground is made up of the Usnisa Hall and Usnisa Worshipping Palace.

Usnisa Temple

Usnisa Temple is the preaching site of Usnisa guarding monk troop, covering an area of 23731.1 m2 and building area of 8104.6 m2. The whole temple is divided into area for worshipping Buddha, for preaching, for vegetarian dinner, for tea and for monks’ living.

Usnisa Pagoda

The magnificent Tang style building is the Usnisa Pagoda. It’s one of the landmarks of Buddhist Holy Land of Usnisa. It is 88 meters tall with 9 floors and 4 sides, covering a building area of 4677  m2.

Walking up to the 8th floor, you may see a Usnisa Vajra Clock made of bronze. On the Clock are the full text of  Diamond Sutra written by Master Longxiang. According to Sutra of 12 Causes and Effects, Buddha should be enshrined above 8th floor in a pagoda. So we enshrine the Buddha Statue on the 9th floor. On the top floor, you may overlook the beautiful scenery of Niushou Mountain.

Sightseeing Cycle :

Spring Theme:This 200-meter long section is planted with sakura trees, symbolizing spring. The flowering period of sakura lasts only seven days, which stands for the transitory nature of life, reminding us to cherish life and practice Buddhism to get enlightenment.

Summer Theme:This section with bamboo forest stands for summer. Hollow bamboo with nothing inside symbolizes emptiness in Buddhism. In Niutou Chan, green bamboo is regarded as the embodiment of Buddhist truth.

Autumn Theme:This section with fruit trees stands for autumn. In Buddhism, you reap what you sow. If you want to accumulate merits, you have to have a kind heart, say nice words and do good deeds.

Winter Theme: The end of the road stands for winter with cedar and winter sweet. In Buddhism, the appreciation of cedar and winter sweet helps to comprehend Buddha dharma.