The Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum (Chinese: 佛光山佛陀紀念館; pinyin: Fóguāngshān Fótuó jìniànguǎn), formerly known as the Buddha Memorial Center, is a Mahāyāna Buddhist cultural, religious, and educational museum located in Dashu District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

[citation needed] In 1998, Venerable Master Hsing Yun travelled to Bodh Gaya, India to confer the precepts for full ordination.

Rinpoche was touched by the efforts of Fo Guang Shan in promoting exchanges between different Buddhist traditions, and he hoped that the relic could be enshrined in Taiwan as a symbol of Dharma preservation.

Just before the foundation was finished, Venerable Master Hsing Yun was moved to put out a basic plan for the future Buddha Museum using a few mineral water bottles, a tissue box, and some newspapers.

Included inside is a semi-permanent shop dedicated to Wu Ching, a sculptor who became famous for his work with gold and who was one of the first exhibits at the museum.

Through a 3D video presentation, viewers get to watch how Venerable Master penned his calligraphy works in one stroke using his inner eye.

The Eightfold Path includes the eight elements that leads a person to liberation: right view, right understanding, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.

In a move to show equality between the sexes, the Venerable Master Hsing Yun also included 3 female bhiksunis: Mahaprajapati, Bhadra Kapilani, Utpalavarna.

They depict the founding patriarchs of the Eight Mahayana Schools of Chinese Buddhism and were designed by the Taiwanese sculptor Wu Jung-Tzu.

The shrine houses the Thousand-Armed, Thousand-Eyes Avalokiteśvara statue made by the contemporary glass artist Loretta Yang.

This is located directly behind the Avalokiteśvara Shrine and houses a golden statue of the Buddha that was gifted to Fo Guang Shan in 2004 by the Supreme Patriarch of Thailand, Somdet Phra Nyanasamvara, for his 90th birthday.

The side walls are of sandalwood reliefs of stupas and pagodas sculpted in a variety of forms and shapes.

This gallery exhibits artifacts from various Underground Palaces but predominantly from the one discovered beneath Famen Temple.

The gallery explains various Buddhist festivals that are celebrated at Fo Guang Shan with interactive technology.

These festivals include: This gallery shows in great detail the complete history of Fo Guang Shan up to 2011.

The round stage in the center of the floor can be rotated so audiences can view the performances from different directions.

The Four Noble Truths Stupas, erected at the four corners of the Main Hall, are testaments to the first teaching that the Buddha gave following his enlightenment.

The Four Noble Truths Stupas correspond to the Four Great Bodhisattvas: Avalokitesvara, Ksitigarbha, Manjusri, and Samantabhadra.

In 2011, the Fo Guang Big Buddha was completed after more than a year of casting, utilizing almost 1,800 ton of metal.

The museum plans to open one of these underground palaces every hundred years and to place other items inside before sealing it again.

Venerable Master Hsing Yun's One-Stroke Calligraphy can be seen throughout the museum on the walls and signs of each building.

A camphor wooden carving depicting Sakyamuni Buddha teaching the Dharma at Vulture Peak to Five Hundred Arhats is visible in the lobby of the Main Hall.