Twin Stone Pagodas, Lingyin Temple, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 杭州灵隐寺双石塔
In front of the Daxiong Hall of the Lingyin Temple two stone pagodas face each other east and west. Octagonal and nine storeys high, they were built in the late Five Dynasties or early Northern Song by the Qian family of Wuyue, and were moved here later; two dharani pillars stand beside them. They copy timber towers faithfully, with columns, beams, brackets, doors, windows and balcony platforms all carved clearly, and Buddha figures and sutra texts on the bodies and bases. Liang Sicheng says that, like the White Pagoda at Zhakou in Hangzhou, they are in fact pagoda-shaped dharani pillars.
