Legend
Legend holds that Buddha retired to an isolated place after he attained enlightenment. When he was sitting in meditation, he was approached by Lord Brahma, carrying a golden wheel with a thousand spokes, and Indra, holding a right-turning conch shell. Brahma offered these objects to Buddha, and requested him for passing on the teachings of the Holy Dharma. Buddha replied that he would turn the wheel of Dharma in three stages. Just then two deer emerged from the nearby forest and gazed at the wheel. To commemorate this first turning of the wheel, a Dharma wheel and a pair of deer, sit atop every monastery. The wheel symbolizes the Buddha's teachings and the deer, representing Brahma and Indra, as his students. The stance of the deer is also significant, as their up-turned faces symbolize listening, their attentive gaze, reflection, and their reclining posture meditation. This legend is enshrined in this monastery in an emblem seen on the front part of the roof of the floor below the top in the ... More