Nanyue Temple is the main temple dedicated to Nanyue God. It is also the main temple where the emperor sacrifices mountains and rivers on behalf of the country. Also known as Tai 'an Dai Temple and Dengfeng Zhongyue Temple. In history, ministers in Song Dynasty offered sacrifices to 15 times, 33 times in Ming Dynasty and more than 40 times in Qing Dynasty. During the Republic of China, there were also two festivals, Spring and Autumn. Nanyue Temple is located at the northern end of Nanyue Ancient Town, at the foot of Zhu Mingfeng, one of the 72 peaks of Hengshan Mountain in Nanyue. It is one of the largest existing ancient temples in southern China, and it is a magnificent ancient architectural complex integrating folk temples, Buddhist temples and Taoist temples. Nanyue Temple, located in Qin and Han Dynasties, was founded in Sui Dynasty. Founded in the 13th year of Kaiyuan in the Tang Dynasty, it has a history of 1400 years. Nanyue Temple is divided into nine courtyards and four courtyards, surrounded by red walls, with towering towers and sword-guarding springs flowing around the walls, which is quite similar to the style of the Forbidden City in Beijing. Nanyue Temple has eight Taoist temples in the east and eight Buddhist temples in the west. It is a unique temple in China and is known as the "Little Forbidden City". The largest scale in history covers an area of 6.5438+0.2 million square meters.
Nanyue Temple has been renovated in Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties 16 times. The last overhaul was in the eighth year of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty (1882), and the interval was more than 120 years. The comprehensive restoration scheme of Nanyue Temple was formulated by Mr. Luo, a master of ancient architecture in China. It is divided into three parts. One is the central axis, divided into nine courtyards and four courtyards. This is a palace-style building. Except for the south gate tower, which was blown up by a plane in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, it is basically intact. This part is a major cultural relics protection area, and the restoration requirement is to preserve the old as the old, that is, "ancient but not ancient"; Second, the east-west line. Eight temples (Buddhist buildings) and eight views (Taoist buildings) on Dongxi Road are folk buildings. The existing buildings have not been fully maintained, and the walls are in ruins. This area is a general cultural relic protection area. At the same time, it is divided into two museums, Buddhism and Taoism, as well as religious sacrifice, reception and training, combined with new functional requirements. This part of the requirements is "old and new" and the third is the cultural and commercial service area. Outside the red wall of the Great Temple, there are two streets around the Temple, which are religious culture, religious supplies, vegetarian food and traditional medicine, and require "new and ancient". After the overhaul, the area of Nanyue Temple was restored from 76,800 square meters to 654.38+10,000 square meters, all of which were open to the outside world. On June 6, 2003, the comprehensive restoration of Nanyue Temple was completed. On May 25th, 2006, the State Council approved Nanyue Temple as a national key cultural relic protection unit.