A fire destroyed parts of the Buddhist palace that Chinese tour agencies liken to the Louvre Museum in Paris. Brahma Palace in Wuxi, eastern China’s Jiangsu province, cost billions of yuan to construct and was less than a decade old. The site is a popular tourist attraction, drawing millions of visitors each year. 

A total of 600 square meters of the main gallery hall were damaged by the fire on Tuesday night. “It’s terrible. The hall is the most amazing part of the palace!” Liu Qian, the deputy president of Wuxi Lingshan Xingfu College and a Buddhist scholar, told Sixth Tone.

The hall was built with precious timber and featured an LED-lit vault, wooden sculptures, and 12 paintings — each 12 meters long — depicting Buddhist themes. 

The palace opened in 2008 as part of Lingshan Scenic Area’s third stage of development, which cost 2 billion yuan ($290 million), according to Wang Junyi, a spokesperson for the state-owned Wuxi Lingshan Cultural Tourism Co. However, Liu said that it would be impossible to quantify the damage caused by the fire due to the gallery’s cultural value. 

“All of the interior decorations are handmade, and it’s impossible to gather so many excellent craftsmen to build such a hall again,” Liu said.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, as is the full extent of the damage.

Travel agencies describe Brahma Palace as a “Buddhist wonderland” and refer to the theme-park-like site as “The Louvre of the East.” Tickets usually cost 210 yuan per adult. After the fire, the palace was closed until further notice, and ticket prices for the scenic area were lowered to 120 yuan.

Brahma Palace is one of China’s most popular Buddhist sites and one of the main attractions of Lingshan Scenic Area, alongside the Five Mudra Mandala, the Nine Dragons Bathing Sakyamuni, and the Xiangfu Temple, all built in or after the late ’90s.  

With a total floor area of over 70,000 square meters, the three-story palace attracts around 3 million tourists annually, including those attending the World Buddhist Forum, which has been held at the site every year since 2012.

At an internal meeting on Wednesday, officials said that the palace’s gallery would be rebuilt. And while Liu felt that the gallery’s magnificence was irreplaceable, Wang seemed more optimistic. “Many master craftsmen have said that they would like to repair the gallery for us,” Wang said, “for free.”

(Header image: A view of Brahma Palace and the Grand Buddha at Lingshan, Wuxi, Jiangsu province, Sept. 13, 2014. Dou Wa/VCG)