Pagoda Forest at Shaolin Temple

The Pagoda Forest at Shaolin Temple is the main cemetery for Buddhist monks at the Shaolin Temple under Mount Song. Consisting of about 250 memorial pagodas beneath or in which the ashes of the deceased were placed, the cemetery covers about 21,000 m2 (5.2 acres). The cemetery is forested. Its name, "tower forest" (Chinese, Ta Lin) reflects that fact, whether because the pagodas are like a forest, or are in a forest. The usual English translation is "Pagoda Forest." Its center is about 250 m (270 yd) from monastery grounds. These memorial "pagodas" are not real ones, which are inhabitable buildings of one or more stories with roofs bearing upturned eaves. Symbolically the memorial imitations are habitations of the dead, representing real towers. In English the upturned roofs are often termed "tiers." The number of tiers in the memorial tower are compatible with the former status of the deceased. The continuity covers more than 1,200 years, but usage continues at a slow rate. Not every monk can be interred there; for the most part they are illustrious in some way. Apart from two pagodas representing groups of monks, the ordinary monks not in leadership positions were interred outside the Pagoda Forest in the graves of ordinary men. During their 1,200 years, the monastic facilities have undergone many changes, ending up as the complex martial arts and geotourism centers they are

Cemetery data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).