Famen Temple, renowned for storing the veritable Finger Bone of the Sakyamuni Buddha, is located in Fufeng County of Shaaxi Province, 120km east from Xi'an and 96km west from Baoji. With a history of 1,700 years, Famen Temple has been appraised the "Forerunner of Ziggurat in Central Shaanxi". Famen Temple Cultural Scenic Area, relying on Famen Temple mainly comprises four sectors including the Temple Gate Square, Foguang Avenue, Famen Temple, and the Namaste Dagoba. It is expected upon completion the Scenic Area will be the "No.2 Cultural Symbol of Shaanxi" next only to Terra-Cotta Warriors and Horses and stands out as the world-class cultural scenic area featuring the "Time-honored Buddhist Holy Land and Age-old Classic Buddhist Site".

Four Gates
Between Temple Gate Square and Foguang Avenue stand four gates, Foguang Gate, Prajna Gate, Bodhi Gate and Perfect Wisdom Gate. Foguang Gate is the place where the light of Buddha delivers all beings from torture and guides them to the Buddhist Faramita. Inside the Foguang Gate are the two still water pools named "Heart-Pacifying Pool." As sacred symbol of Buddhism, lotus living in the silt but not stained signifies the purity of Buddhists among the filthy world. Prajna refers great wisdom in Buddhism. The Prajna Gate means that during Buddhist medication, only by observing the guidance from prajna, can perfect wisdom and the most supreme Buddhist enlightenment be achieved. Bodhi means enlightenment and wisdom. By passing through the Bodhi Gate, one can be awakened to Buddha dharma and reach superior Buddhist cognition. The architecture design of Perfect Wisdom Gate, which only has gateposts, shows the Buddha dharma that is attained by observing sunyata (the nature of void). So, the Perfect Wisdom Gate is also called "Gate of Sunyata".

Foguang Avenue
Covering an area of 140,000sq km, Foguang Avenue is 1230m long and 108m wide. As the main axle, it divides the Scenic Area into the Western Section and the Eastern Section. The Eastern Section, named "Famous Site of Buddha", displays the whole process from the birth to the nirvana of Sakyamuni. The Western Section, named "Source of Buddhist Realm", exhibits the great advance of Buddhism ever since Sakyamuni's nirvana. Along the Foguang Avenue are the 10 statutes of well-known Bodhisattva.

Famen Temple
Built in Eastern Han Dynasty to enshrine Sakyamuni's sarira, Famen Temple, which was founded around the dagoba, was originally named "Asoka Temple." In Sui Dynasty, it was renamed "Chengshi Buddha Mandala". In Tang Dynasty, it was given its present name "Famen Temple". Later, by holding several ceremonies for enshrining the relics of Sakyamuni's finger bone, Famen Temple became well-know, and made its way into a world-famous Buddhist temple. The most representative structures in the temple are the Famen Temple Pagoda and Famen Temple Museum.

At the center of the temple is the 13-tiered octagonal pagoda under which it is said, a sliver of the finger bone of Sakyamuni was discovered. In 1981, subsidence of the pagoda led to reconstruction, during which, an Underground Palace was discovered unexpectedly in 1987. Many royal treasures and jewellery were found here - more than 2,000 pieces surrounded the Tang mandala (geometric designs, usually circular, symbolizing the universe). The most precious one is the veritable Finger Bone of the Sakyamuni Buddha. At present, this is the biggest Buddhist underground palace so far discovered. From the grand architectural style, the Underground Palace is said to have been established in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). But why, and how such precious treasures were stored under the pagoda. Tracing back to a most flourishing time in Chinese history, formerly, Famen Temple was the royal temple during the Sui Dynasty (581-618) and Tang Dynasty. Emperors in Sui and Tang believed that enshrining and worshiping the bone of Sakyamuni would bring riches and peace to the land and its people. So an offering of treasure to the finger bone was made, it was housed in the Underground Palace.

Famen Temple Museum was established in 1987, which includes most of the precious treasures from the Tang Dynasty removed from Underground Palace, including gold and silverware, colored glaze ware, porcelain and silks. Owing to more and more tourists and their curiosity to the relics, two new exhibition halls were established in 2000. The exhibition area expanded from 500 square meters to 3,000 square meters.

Namaste Dagoba
Namaste Dagoba was completed on May 9, 2009 after 3 years construction. The Namaste Dagoba is used to enshrine the one and only relics of Sakyamuni's finger bone in the word instead of Famen Temple Pagoda. The full height of the dagoba is 148m, of which the three digits have its connotation. The "1" in the number symbols that the Buddha does not differ from all beings. The Buddha is the awakened beings while the beings are yet to be enlightened. The "4" and "8" in the number denote the 8th day of the 4th lunar month, the birthday of Buddha. The architecture design of Namaste Dagoba represents the Buddha thought of unification, concord harmony, and peace. The one and only relics of Sakyamuni's finger bone in the world was enshrined in the underground palace in the Namaste Dagoba. The finger bone will rise up on the first floor at the Namaste Dagoba in the 1st day and 15st day of each lunar month and Saturdays and Sundays for tourists and devotees to pay homage.

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