[2] All four walls of the foundations are decorated with carving of the one thousand sagacious Buddhas arranged in rows[2] as well as Buddhist symbols (such as dharma wheels), animals (elephants and peacocks) and floral designs (bodhi trees[3]), as well as Sūtra texts.

Besides the proportions, the two buildings also differ in the decorations, which have a distinct Chinese style in case of the Zhenjue Temple, e.g., they had glazed-tile roofs.

the design was presented to the imperial court by the high-ranking Indian monk named Sariputra during the reign of the Yongle Emperor[3][7] in the early 15th century.

[2] Besides the marble construction of the diamond throne pagoda, the temple complex also contained a number of wooden buildings; at least six halls were present during the times of the Ming dynasty.

[5] The temple complex was damaged by fire in 1860, during the Second Opium War and again in 1900 by the Eight-Nation Alliance that put down the Boxer Rebellion.

[5] At present, the temple houses the Beijing Art Museum of Stone Carvings (Chinese: 北京石刻艺术博物馆; pinyin: Běijīng Shíkè Yìshù Bówùguǎn).