Just as we know, among so many ethnic groups in Yunnan province, most Dai people believe in Buddhism. As a result, there are many Buddhist temples in Xishuang Banna where the Dai people are living in. Man Ge Buddhist Temple is one of the famous temples in this area which is called Wa La Zha Tan Man Ge in Dai language, meaning Man Ge Central Buddhist Temple. This temple is located in the picturesque lakeside of Lancang River. At the same time of enjoying beautiful scenery, you can feel the strong Dai people’s culture.
If you intend to visit Man Ge Buddhist Temple during the process when you learn Mandarin in the city of Kunming, you can start from the capital city of Xishuang Banna Dai Autonomous Prefecture Jinghong city to the toward the east and then cross the Lancang River Bridge. After turning right and entering the garden style Man Ge Village, you can see the magnificent and resplendent Man Ge Temple.
Around the Buddhist temple, you can also see an area of fernleaf hedge bamboos as well as the graceful Ma Ge trees. It seems more beautiful with the decoration of all kinds of rare flowers and uncommon trees such as banyan tree, mango tree, betelnut tree and sweet-scented osmanthus, bellflower and trumpet flower and so on, making this temple more elegant. Of course, since you go there for the Buddhist temple, the attention should be paid to the architecture of the temple.
The architecture style of the temple is majestic and magnificent. There are 16 large round columns of toon trees, supporting the overhanging roof of Dai people style. On the eves of the temple, 16 elegant small white elephants are delicately caved. The students who have come to study Chinese in Yunnan for a long time may know that elephant is regarded as the auspicious animal by Dai people. The whole temple, the beam frames or the brackets inserted between the top of the column and crossbeam are all connected with tenon.
As soon as you enter the temple, you can see the statue of Pazhao with the height of four meters is standing in the seat on the right site. The roof and walls of the temple are decorated with the patterns of golden dragon, white elephants, fairy maiden, phoenix and peacock. There are colorful streamers with fairy tales and auspicious animals’ patterns hanging in each column.