Last stop of the day: the Sanctuary of Truth. The Sanctuary of Truth is a wooden temple that features carvings representative of ancient Hindu and Buddhist teachings. “The concept of truth and value of life has been crystallized and shown to the public through the works of arts and architectural sculpture that reflects the philosophy of living,” says the brochure. The temple contains an enormous number of figures including representations of the four elements; the Hindu godhead of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva; Bodhisattvas from Mahayana Buddhism, and various celestial beings.
The project’s owners began working in 1981, and construction is scheduled to run until 2050. (In fact, visitors have to wear hard hats on site.) The sanctuary’s website says, “This work indicates that humans are only dust in the universe and will ultimately become one with it. Physical beings deteriorate, ravaged by the time, But truth and goodness are immortal.” Well, if all physical beings are going to deteriorate, they’re certainly putting a lot of effort into this one for nothing, but in the meantime, let’s look around:
On our way out, we walked through the workshop. Once the logs are sawed down, all of these carvings really are done by hand.
COHN17 