When I was young, there’s this TV series about a monk called 济公 who was the reincarnation of a dharma. The temple that he became a monk was Lingying Temple.

灵隐（飞来峰）景区位于西湖西面，包括灵隐寺和飞来峰两个主要景观。

飞来峰 Flying Peak

The stone carvings dot the surface of Flying Peak, which is separated from Lingyin Temple by a stream called Lengquan. Flying Peak is made of limestone, approximately 168 meters high, with more than 300 stone carvings produced in the Five Dynasties and the Yuan Dynasty. A large number of grottoes can be found on the peak, such as Qinglin Grotto, Yuru Grotto and Longhong Grotto. Standing inside the grottoes are stones of various shapes and forms, along with statues of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and Buddhist masters on the wall. It is the largest scale of carvings in Zhejiang Province.

飞来峰不大也不高，却汇聚了几百处不同朝代的菩萨、高僧造像，有种融合之美。景区本身并不大，步行游玩即可。进入大门后往左，没一会儿就能看到飞来峰，沿着林中小径不出5分钟看到青林洞入口，据说洞前的石板曾是济公的睡床，睡一睡将不再为尘世所扰，引得许多游客在这里躺一躺。往北走，玉乳洞里有北宋十八罗汉造像，洞口东端两侧还有禅宗六祖像，十分精美。继续往前的龙泓洞俗称观音洞，里面有一道石缝“一线天”，不是所有人都能看到那道穿过石缝的光亮，因此常会看到大家伸长脖子往上看。洞外的崖壁上布满了佛像石刻，较低处，可以看到“白马驮经”的宋代石刻。

唐时冷泉上有5座亭子，后因山洪四亭俱毁，冷泉也于明万历年间移建岸上。现有“壑雷”“冷泉”二亭。亭建于宋代，苏东坡有诗“不知水从何处来，跳波赴壑如奔雷”，亭因诗得名。冷泉亭上有一副对联“泉自几时冷起，峰从何处飞来”写得很有意趣。

龙泓洞口的理公塔，是杭州现存唯一的明代塔，由此沿着冷泉溪走，还能看到大肚弥勒，这是飞来峰最大的一尊佛像。石刻对面便是着名的，进入灵隐寺需另购香花券30元，但还是很值得一看，天王殿里的韦驮像是南宋时期的遗物，由整段香樟木刻成，十分珍贵。新修的永福寺在灵隐寺旁边，顺着指示牌往上走就能到，寺院里除了清幽的古建之外，还有一片茶园和许多古树，风景相当不错。到了永福寺必须原路返回，如果想要爬山，在返回灵隐寺的半路有一岔道，可从韬光寺出口通往北高峰，这段路人少幽静，走走感觉很不错。北高峰可以爬山或者坐索道上去，山巅的灵顺寺是杭州着名的古寺之一。

灵隐寺 Lingying Temple

Located at the north-west of the West Lake at Hangzhou, Lingyin Temple is one of the oldest and most significant ancient Buddhist temple of China. As the largest of several temples in Hangzhou’s Wulin Mountains, with its the long history and charming scenery, Lingyin Temple attracts thousands of visitors and Buddhist faithful every day.

山中的灵隐寺是杭州最古老的寺院，香火旺盛，可以买香花券入寺祈愿。

Lingyin Temple, sitting at the foot of Mount Lingyin right next to West Lake, is not only the oldest temple in the city of Hangzhou, but also one of the ten most significant ancient temples of Zen Buddhism in China. Built in the third year of East Jin Dynasty (328 AD), Lingyin Temple now has a history of over 1680 years.

灵隐寺是中国佛教著名寺院，又名云林寺，位于浙江省杭州市西湖西北面，通常认为也属于西湖景区。 灵隐寺始建于东晋咸和元年（公元326年），至今已有约一千七百年的历史，为杭州最早的名刹，也是中国佛教禅宗十大古刹之一。 灵隐寺取“仙灵所隐”之意，光听名字便知其隐于山林，环境清幽。不过灵隐寺内香火鼎盛、信徒纷至，特别是大年初一凌晨抢头香，甚为壮观！据说，灵隐寺非常灵验，而飞来峰更是因为济公而名扬天下。 游人自“咫尺西天”照壁往西进入灵隐，先至理公塔前小驻。

Elder Li’s Pagoda, also called Lingjiu Pagoda, located next to the Elder Li’s Rock near the entrance of the Longhong Grotto, was built to commemorate the Indian monk, Master Huili, who founded Lingyin Temple.

理公塔为慧理和尚骨灰埋葬之处，此塔高8米余，八角七层，是一座石塔。往右过春淙亭，一道红墙暂将灵隐寺遮住，左边便是飞来峰与冷泉，在泉边漫步，景色幽深，引人入胜。

过冷泉，灵隐古刹即在眼前。灵隐寺天王殿上悬“云林禅寺”匾额，为清康熙帝所题。据灵隐寺记载，清康熙二十八年（1689年）康熙帝南巡至灵隐，一日早晨灵 隐寺主持谛晖法师陪同康熙帝登上北高峰，只见灵隐寺笼罩在一片晨雾之中，一派云林漠漠的景色，回到山下，谛晖法师请康熙帝为寺院题字，康熙帝即景生情题了 “云林禅寺”，但灵隐寺已名扬天下，人们依旧称云林禅寺为灵隐寺。 很多人去灵隐只为爬山。推荐爬山线路：灵隐寺-上天竺-九龙八塔-天门山-十里锒铛-五云山-林海亭-九溪。

大雄宝殿 The Grand Hall (Hall of Great Sage)

The Grand Hall serves as the main temple hall where the statue of Sakyamuni Buddha, whose teachings founded Buddhism, is worshiped. The Grand Hall is also known as the Grand Hall of Great Sage or Mahavira Hall. Lingyin Temple’s Grand Hall is located behind the Hall of Heavenly Kings and is the second hall of the Monastery.

大雄宝殿原称觉皇殿，单层三叠重檐高33.6米，气势嵯峨、十分雄伟。

In the center of the hall is a lotus platform on which the statue of Buddha in sitting posture is placed, namely Sakyamuni. The statue is 24.8 meters in height, the distance from the stone lotus seat to backlight roof is 19.6 meters, and the height of Buddha is 9.1 meters with 1.3 meters long ears. The structure of the statue consists of  24 pieces of carved camphor wood, which is China’s largest camphor wood statue, and is also the second tallest Buddhist statue in Chinese temples. The entire statue of Buddha is carefully designed, with the head leaning slightly forward and eyes at a slight gaze conveying solemn kindness; the left hand transverses the body and rests on the foot with the other hand’s fingers up in the gesture of “mudra of teaching.”

大殿正中是一座高24.8米的佛祖释迦牟尼像高踞莲花座之上，造像妙相庄严、气韵生动、颔首俯视，令人敬畏。这是中国最高大的木雕坐式佛像之一，是一件不可多得的宗教艺术作品。

药师殿 Hall of Medicine Buddha

As the third hall in Lingyin Temple, Medicine Buddha Hall is situated behind the Grand Hall. Rebuilt in 1993, this hall is a single-layer building with a double-eaved hip roof, which consists of seven rooms extending across the width of the hall and three rooms running the depth of the hall.

药师殿是灵隐寺的第三重大殿，长约20米，宽约12米，供奉的是“东方三圣”。

Inside the hall worships the statues of Medicine Buddha, flanked by two Bodhisattvas, Suryaprabha and Candraprabha, symbolizing sunlight and moonlight respectively. The three of them are referred to as “Three Sages from the East”, or “Three Great Medicine Bodhisattvas”.

药师佛及日光天子、月光天子。殿中莲台座上结跏趺坐的是药师佛，是东方净琉璃世界的教主，称“大医王佛”，他能使众生离苦得乐，解除病痛和灾害，又称“消灾延寿药师佛”。左边站立日光菩萨，手托太阳，象征着光明；右边站立月光菩萨，手托月亮，象征着清凉。

直指堂、藏经阁 Dharma Hall and Sutra Library

The Dharma Hall, also called “Zhizhi Hall”, is the fourth hall of Lingyin Temple, located in the back of the Medicine Buddha Hall. The present Dharma Hall was built by Monk Xuanli of Lingyin Temple in 1446.

华严殿 Huayan Hall

The fifth and last hall on the main axis is the Avatamsaka Hall, or Huayan Hall (Chinese: 华严殿; pinyin: Huáyán Diàn). Also built in 2002, this hall houses statues of the three sages of the Avatamsaka Sutra, known as the Huayan Sutra in Chinese – Shakyamuni, Manjusri, and Samantabhadra.

华严殿是灵隐寺内位置最高的建筑，殿内供奉华严三圣——毘盧遮那佛、文殊菩萨和普贤菩萨。

永福寺

永福寺位于灵隐之西约一华里处的石笋峰下，自东晋慧理禅师开山至今，已有1600多年的历史。据清康熙年间《杭州府志》卷三十二《寺观》载，永福寺座落于飞来峰呼猿洞对面的形胜山下，旧分上下两寺，与下天竺（旧称翻经院）等寺一样，同为慧理禅师开山创建。

永福寺掩映在浩瀚竹林和幽深的树林之间，一条小溪潺潺相伴，曲径深处自有一个清净世界所在。若天气好，在大雄宝殿前的看台上还可以远眺西湖。