Zhenjue Monastery Arched Entryways 真覺寺拱門

The Jingangbaozuo Pagoda 金剛寶座塔 can be entered through two arched entryways on the north and south sides. Being the entrances to the pagoda, the doorways likely received repairs and renovations when the rest of the pagoda did. In its current form it is brick with a white stone façade. The bottom half of the door is framed by vertical sides which continue the lotus blossom protrusions that are present on the rest of the pagoda’s façade. The rounded arch which frames the door contains many instances of inscribed animal iconography. These animals include elephants, lions, snakes and horses. These animals are accompanied by nature imagery. The top of the arch is inscribed with humanoid figures accompanied by Buddhist iconography. 1

The interior of the building can be circumambulated. The walkways within the building are topped with a continuous rounded arch. The interior contains a circumambulatory path around a square central core with statutory niches on all four sides and crowned with a bracketed set of eaves of a sinitic palace. The niches are each framed with a cusped arch. The interior bracketing and roof both use masonry to imitate wood.