108 Pagodas at Qingtongxia

The 108 Buddhist Pagodas lies at the east of Xiakou Mountain on the western shore of the Yellow River. They are the primary attractions of the tourism areas in Qingtongxia Reservoir near Yinchuan City. They are a triangle pagoda forest of 108 brick stupas of Lamaism. The pagoda complex has a unique layout and ranks among the top three pagoda complexes in China. The other two are the pagoda forest of Shaolin Temple in Henan and Lingyan Temple in Shandong. Here used to be grand temple buildings, nowadays, most of the temples were ruined, only left pagoda. This 108 pagodas form in 12 rows, the overall layout is narrow on the top and wide on the bottom, form an isosceles triangle, which is a unique style.

The origin of 108 Pagodas at Qingtongxia is something of a mystery, but from their solid form, they are believed to stem from the Yuan (CE 1279-1368) Dynasty period, though they were referred to as "ancient dagobas" in local historical accounts stemming from the Ming (CE 1368-1644) Dynasty, and under the base of one of the pagodas was once unearthed a book, copied on silk, with writing on it that corresponds to the script in use during the Xia ( BCE 2000-1500) Dynasty.

The 108 Dagobas, arranged in twelve tapering rows of odd numbers – from 19 dagobas in the base row to 1 dagoba at the top "row" – form a large, equilateral triangle. The 108 dagobas range in height from 3½ meters to 2½ meters. Another peculiar aspect of the 108 dagobas is that they are each fashioned in one of three different shapes: that of a pyrimad, that of a gourd, or that of a vase. Each dagoba is erected on an octagonal-shaped, raised base that is convex, though solid, symbolizing Sumeru, or the Buddhist variant of the Hindu concept of "world mountain". 

The one at the top of the pagoda group is a huge lama pagoda of solid core and shaped like an upside-down alms bowl. It is about two meters high, built by bricks and covered by lime. The pagoda has an octagonal sumeru seat. The pagoda body is like an upside-down alms bowl and the top shapes like a pearl. Other pagodas resemble this pattern, but are smaller in size.

From a distance, a full view of the entire group of pagodas can be achieved. 108, is the idiomatic number in Buddhism. Buddhism identifies 108 kinds of trouble and affliction for life, to eliminate the trouble and affliction, one should pray to Buddha 108 times, knock a bell 108 times and so on. 108 towers should be those contribute the "merits and virtues". To build a tower here is to eliminate the trouble of life.

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