Before coming to India, I had always been under the illusion that Buddhism was widely practised here. However, it is actually rarely practised (in comparison to the prevalence of Hinduism), and is more widely practised in Northern than Southern India. Despite all of this, in the region of Karnataka where I am living, there are numerous Buddhist monasteries and temples. Two Sundays ago, my first full day in Kenchanahalli, I went sightseeing with the grad students from Iowa (Julie, Mandi and Mikey) and we visited two such Buddhist monasteries.
The first monastery that we visited was my favourite of the two. Tucked way off the main road, we had to take a very small one-lane bumpy dirt road to reach it. As we were nearing the monastery, it literally felt as if we were crossing the border into Tibet. There were prayer flags strung across fences and between trees of every property and all of the people were Tibetan - I didn't see a single Indian person. Interestingly, the area we were in was one of many Tibetan refugee camps founded over 100-years ago. Anyway, when we arrived at the monastery, the Buddhist monks were praying inside - it was one of the most incredible sounds I've ever heard. It was like a symphony of low, rattling voices chanting mantras interwoven with the methodical beating of drums, the clanging of a gong and the whistle of horns... very loud, and yet very peaceful at the same time. The building was intricate and gilded without becoming gaudy - it was beautiful.
The first monastery that we visited was my favourite of the two. Tucked way off the main road, we had to take a very small one-lane bumpy dirt road to reach it. As we were nearing the monastery, it literally felt as if we were crossing the border into Tibet. There were prayer flags strung across fences and between trees of every property and all of the people were Tibetan - I didn't see a single Indian person. Interestingly, the area we were in was one of many Tibetan refugee camps founded over 100-years ago. Anyway, when we arrived at the monastery, the Buddhist monks were praying inside - it was one of the most incredible sounds I've ever heard. It was like a symphony of low, rattling voices chanting mantras interwoven with the methodical beating of drums, the clanging of a gong and the whistle of horns... very loud, and yet very peaceful at the same time. The building was intricate and gilded without becoming gaudy - it was beautiful.
Later, we went to The Golden Temple, a much more famous Buddhist temple that has become more of a tourist attraction. It was a huge complex - there were hundreds of monks (of all ages) that live and meditate there - consisting of three main temples (including the famed Golden Temple) as well as all the living quarters. While we were there we even saw a monk using an iPhone... that was definitely unexpected! But The Golden Temple definitely lives up to it's name. The inside of the temple was breathtaking. At the front of the large prayer room were three enormous golden figures, each seated in the lotus position - I only recognized Buddha, I'm not sure who the two statues flanking him represented. Everything was so intricate - the walls, the pillars, and the front of the building. I've never seen anything like it before.
Right after we finished looking at the inside of the temple, the gong began to ring - calling the monks to prayer. It was so cool to watch them come running from all directions, kick off their feet at the base of the stairs into the temple and dart inside.
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