Have you ever wondered about the backstory of a building or statue during a visit to the Mahayana Temple retreat? While we’ve been working on the temple reconstruction plans, we’ve also been creating other improvements for the temple experience. Today, we’re pleased to announce the upcoming installation for our new interactive self-guided tour.
We will be placing descriptive plaques throughout the retreat so visitors can learn as they roam the grounds at their own pace. Our hope is for this self-guided tour to be an informative and enjoyable experience for all. Long-time practitioners and non-Buddhist visitors alike can benefit from this, whether it deepens your appreciation for your existing knowledge or teaches you something completely new.
By reading our plaques, visitors can learn about the history of our temples and the religious significance of various figures depicted in our statues. Many plaques even feature a QR code! When scanned, these lead to audio recordings of the plaque text, plus extra information about the founding family’s connection to the corresponding structure.
The initiative to create these new plaques was inspired by the existing plaques mounted on our Grand Buddha Hall, detailing the history of the retreat. Hoping to recreate a similar look with notable variations, we’ve selected bronze plaques with leatherette textured backgrounds and satin finish on the text.
When updating the design, we endeavored to make our new signage zen-inspired, interactive, and accessible. Here are some choices we made for the new plaques:
- Including branded QR codes
- Combining English and Chinese onto the same plaque
- Using a traditional zhuanshu font for the Chinese titles
- Adding a hui patterned border as a finishing touch
The process of creating these plaques over the past few months has been a collaboration between founder descendants Patricia Ying and Leslie Ying, as well as editor Zachary Wellstood, among others. The descendants were able to provide backstories about various structures that have never been publicly recorded anywhere before. As reconstruction plans continue to unfold, the plaques will be updated to continue providing relevant descriptions that will one day become historical backstories themselves.
We are grateful to be progressing through our reconstruction plans and seeing the temple continue to develop. If you would like to support the reconstruction efforts, we invite you to make a contribution via the linked PayPal or Venmo accounts. Thank you for reading, and blessings to all. Amituofo.
