Located in Fufeng County, somewhere 118km from Xi'an, Shaanxi Famen Temple was originally built in 300 AD in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

It is said Emperor Ah Yu of Tian Zhu (Hindu) for explaining and propagating the doctrine
of Buddhism, buried the cremated ashes of Buddha in 84,000 pagodas to different places all over the world.

Since there was the finger bone under the pagoda, Famen Temple was well known all over the world and worshiped by numerous pilgrims through the ages. It became an “Imperial Famen Temple” for imperial kin's men and feudal nobles. Emperors and Empresses worshiped Buddha here. It is recorded that all emperors of the Tang Dynasty expect Wu Zong believed in Buddha. At piping times of peace, the door of the pagoda was opened every 30 years and the Buddha's bone was taken to the palace for Consecration, Empresses and imperial concubines presented their gifts one after another, while princes, dukes and ministers vied with each other in making donations.

Consequently, Famen Temple had a long prosperous history over many dynasties in the past.

On August 24, 1981 the western part of the temple toppled down. On April 2, 1986 archaeologists and workers discovered the stone covering of the underground palace. At last the “wonderful treasure-house” sunken in sleep for 1100 years was thoroughly exposed to the daylight. The precious Sakyamuni 's fingers and a lot of other precious cultural relics which have been missing for hundreds of years were unearthed and unfolded before men's eyes with their dazzling brightness. These national treasures in the underground palace of Famen Temple are another new wonder archaeological discovery after that of Qin Terracotta Warriors and a great event in the history of Buddhism and the culture of the world as well.

The underground palace at Famen Temple, 21.2 meters long, covers an area of 31.84 square meters. It is the largest palace among all the temples and pagodas discovered so far in China. The four finger bones discovered there are most riveting. It is determined that the third finger bone is the original, which means it is the only real finger bone of the Buddha. The other three were “shadow bones” , imitations that the Tang emperors had made in order to protect the real one . but in the eyes of Buddhist believers, even the “shadow bones” were so sacred that they enjoyed the same significance and importance as well.

The finger bone discovered at Famen Temple is the only real finger bone of the Buddha that has been discovered and maintained in the world. The secret celadon unearthed at Famen Temple was a breakthrough for the study of the history of Chinese porcelain. The gold and silver were unearthed is of high quality and great value.

Both Famen Temple and Famen Temple Pagoda have been rebuilt based on the model from the Ming Dynasty. The underground palace remains intact, and a passage into it for visitors has been constructed. On the right side of Famen Temple a museum housing the excavated treasures was built according to the architectural style of the Tang Dynasty.