Located on the southern of Luofeng Mountain of the middle of Yuantong Street, adjacent to the Kunming Zoo, Yuantong Temple is the largest and famous Buddhist temple in Kunming, Yunnan Province. It is also home to the Buddhist Association of Kunming and Yunnan Province.

With a history of more than 1,200 years, Yuantong Temple is one of the oldest temples in Kunming. It was built in the late eighth century and early ninth century by the Nanzhao kingdom in the Tang Dynasty, initially called Butuoluo Temple. Butuoluo, or Putuo, the transliteration of potalaka in Sanskrit, means Guangming Mountain with tiny white flowers blooming, which is the teaching ground of Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva. Yuantong is one of the thirty-two names of Avalokiteshvara. It is the temple to enshrine Avalokiteshvara.

Butuoluo Temple had existed for 400 years and it was ruined in a war in the early Yuan Dynasty. It took 18 years to rebuild larger temple from 1301 to 1319. And it was renamed Yuantong Temple. After two major restorations and expansion in the Chenghua period (1465-1487) of the Ming Dynasty and the 24th year of Emperor Kangxi's rule (1686) of the Qing Dynasty, the temple took on its present design, with covered corridors, bridges and grand halls.

In recent years, continuous restoration and expansion programs were launched in Yuantong Temple. Work was especially notable in 1990, when the Bronze Buddha Hall in Xiaocheng Buddha Temple and the Sutra Depository in the east of the temple were built. Thus, the three systems of Chinese Buddhism were brought together in Yunnan Province, and is the only temple of its kind in all of China.

The temple’s architecture presents a high structure in front and a lower hidden structure at the rear. The front archway, called “Yuantong Shenjing” (Wonderland), opens to a scenic garden view of the entire temple. Green hill, blue water, color fish, white bridge, red pavilion, vermillion shrine and color corridor enhances each other’s beauty. Far to its north lies the Yuantong main hall where a clear shimmering pool can be found.

The main hall reflects the ancient architecture of the Yuan Dynasty. Two central pillars, accentuated with two blue and yellow giant dragons carved during the Ming dynasty, serve as the centerpiece inside the hall. And the two dragons are facing each other as if they are geared for a fight.

On either side of the main hall is a stone staircase, which was carved from the cliff known as “Caizhilu”. This staircase offers a pathway to the mountain’s summit. This path is adorned by ancient writings that manage to survive nature’s weathering and erosion for centuries. In a sight that never fails to impress visitors, the inscriptions and characters are still clear and readable today.

Yuantong Temple is one of the main temples for Kunming citizens to hold Buddhist activities.  Every year’s 19th February in the lunar calendar (the birthday of Guanyin Bodhisattva), the first and 15th of every month, there are big scale temple fairs here and you will see a sea of people gathering here.

How to get

Take taxi or Public Bus No. 85、92、95、100、101、119、92、125