Bodhi Temple is a temple for Theravada and is called “Zangxiang” in Dai language which means Precious Stone Temple. It is recorded that the Temple was built in the year of Kangxi 16 in Qing Dynasty. At that time, the eldest son of Chief of Mangshi gave up his official position, shaved his head and became a monk; later he built a temple. Before the temple stood a big bodhi tree; so the temple was called Bodhi Temple. In the following 300 years, the Temple had gone through repeated chaos caused by wars and suffered a lot. It has been repaired for many times; till now, except for the roof built in the style of Han nationality, the whole building has a style of Dai.
The temple is not very big and covers an area of only 3,600 square meters. What is important is that there are in the temple all kinds of artistic treasures of Dai people from different historical stages during these hundreds of years like frescoes, paper-cuts and thousands of columns of lections.
The pair of stone carving animals in front of the main hall are a kind of magic animals in Burmese legends which are called “Gaduo” whose job is to guard the main hall of the Temple. Bodhi Temple is not only a place for the monks to patter and for the followers to worship, but also a precious deposit of traditional arts of Dai people.
After repairing and painting, the main hall of Bodhi Temple becomes more dignified. Every time when it is 8th, 15th, 23th, 30th in every lunar year, the followers of Buddhism from neighbouring villages would gather here to worship with fresh flowers and offerings. The Temple is quiet famous in Burma and in southeast Asia.