Manfeilong Ta

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Overview

“Ta” means pagoda, Manfeilong Ta is group of Theravada Buddhism pagodas in Man Ge Fo Temple

Brief

Manfeilong Ta is located at the Mangefo Temple across the Lancang River 70 kilometers southwest of Jinghong City, The Jing-Long road connects to Manfeilong village; Along the way, you can see the beautiful scenery such as: Dai’ people village, fields, and rubber forests. In particular, there are dry-fenced Dai people’s houses on the roadside that are surrounded by flowers such as Bougainvillea spectabilis Willd, Pyrostegia venusta, Chlorophytum comosum, poinsettia and other flowers.

Crossing the river from Manfeilong Village, there are more than 200 stone steps. It is the virgin forest on the left, and the lush rubber forest on the right. The Manfeilong Ta was built on the top of the mountain. It is actually a group of pagodas, because the grops of pagodas are like a grop of bamboo shoots that grows breaking through the ground, so it is also called “Bamboo shoot Ta”; it is also called “White Pagoda” for its absolute whiteness. Crossing the river from Manfeilong Village, there are more than 200 stone steps. It is the virgin forest on the left, and the lush rubber forest on the right. The Manfeilong Ta was built on the top of the mountain. It is actually a group of pagodas, because the grops of pagodas are like a grop of bamboo shoots that grows breaking through the ground, so it is also called “Bamboo shoot Ta”; and it is also called “White Pagoda” for its absolute whiteness. It is regarded as the symbol of Xishuangbanna and being announced by the China State Council as a national key cultural relics protection unit in 1988.

The pagoda group was built in 1204 AD. According to legend, the technicians and craftsmen responsible for building the tower were 3 Indian Buddhists. The pagodas have been restored twice in modern times.
The pagoda group are 9 pagodas in total including a main tower which is surrounded by 8 small towers, and all of which are built on the same base. The base has a multi-petal plum shape and the perimeter is 42.6 meters. The main tower is 16.29 meters high and the tower base is 8.6 meters in diameter. Its shape likes a gourd with steeple on its top; The surrounded 8 small towers are 9.1 meters high each, and with a multi-layer gourd shape, all of those are solid masonry structures. The each small pagoda has a small shrine for Buddha with an extended ridge, and a Buddha statue is placed in it, and the inner walls of the small shrine are lined with neat reliefs of Buddha statues.

The main and vertical ridge of the small shrine are decorated with pottery such as dragons, phoenixes and peacocks, and there are decorations of flowers, grass and cirrus motifs along the niche door of the shrine. The architectural style of this pagodas reflect the artistic characteristics of Theravada Buddhism that was handed down from Myanmar and Thailand.

There is a foot print on the rock which is at south of pagoda under the small shrine. The legend that the foot print was thought to be Shakyamuni’s footprint that to determine the site for building the pagodas, hence the Manfeilong Ta was built here by following this legend

Manfeilong Ta Data

Tips on visit

To take the public bus departure from Jinghong city to Da Meng Long, then switch to local minibus to drive another 3 kilometers to arrive in Manfeilong village

Airport & Bus Station

Xishuangbanna Gasa Airport
Address: Gasa town, Jinghong City
IATA Code: JHG
Altitude: 1814 meters above sea level
Phone: +86 691 215-9129

Xishuangbanna Bus Station
Address: No.16 Mengle Ave, Jinghong
Phone: +86 691 212-3699
Altitude: 560 meters above sea level
Working hours: 06:00 am – 19:00 pm