(GIANT WILD GOOSE PAGODA)

Giant Wild Goose Pagoda (Chinese 大雁塔)is a pagoda located in China, southern Xi'an, Shaanxi province.The structure was built in 652 during the Tang Dynasty and had originally five stories. The pagoda was first located in a monastery in the southeastern sector of the Tang capital, Chang'an. One of the pagoda's many functions was to hold sutras and figurines of the Buddha that were brought to China from India by the Buddhist traveller and translator Xuanzang.

A skull relic suposedly to belong to Xuanzang was held in the Temple of Great Compassion, Tianjin until 1956 when it was taken to (allegedly by the Dalai Lama)and presented to India. The relic is now in the Patna museum. The Wenshu monestary in Chengdu, Sichuan province also claims to have part of Xuanzang's skull.

(BUDDHA)

(PATNA MUSEUM)