Tabo
This is heartening to see a huge welcome gate, everytime I entered into a village.
It's almost mid-day, and I am starving. I freshened myself in tubewell water and the coldness of the water made me shivering in no time!
Monks are still with me, I've already made a deal with monks to guide me in and around Tabo
We went to a restaurant, had veg thukpa, it was yummy, hot and spicy!
Across the table our chats continued. We couldn't recall one another's name so we reintroduced ourselves. The chatty monk is Gunchu, the monk from Dehradun is known as Raul and third one, ummm... I forgot his name again.
Gunchu continues, "
we are nicknamed as cylinder in Dehradun"
I asked,
"why so?"
He replied,
"Because of the colour of our cloths!"
I also asked them about their lifestyle. Becoming a monk is not a forced process. Before adopting it, one has to understand the principle and then if he thinks that he will be able to follow it, he adopts it. After that he goes to monastery for study. Monks are not allowed to get married. But, if any point of time one feels like getting married the he can leave and start his family life.
After having our thukpa, we proceed to monastery.
The Tabo monastery Backgroud and History: Tabo Monastery (or Tabo Chos-Khor Monastery) was founded in 996AD by the great Tibetan Buddhist and translator
Lotsawa Rinchen Tsang Po, the king of western Himalayan Kingdom of Guge as an advanced centre of learning. It is located at an altitude of 3050m. It spreads over an area of 6300sq m and is surrounded by high boundary wall made up of mud bricks.
The monastery temples house a priceless collection of manuscripts and thangkas (Buddhist scroll paintings), historical, exquisite statues in stuccos, frescos and murals depicting tales from the Mahayana Buddhist Pantheon. Every inch of wall is covered with fine paintings in astonishingly well preserved condition.
The monastery complex holds 9 temples, 23 chortens, a monk's chamber and an extension that houses the nuns chamber.
The temples: The Temple of the Enlightened Gods (gTug-Lha-khang)
This is also known as the assembly hall (du-khang) and is quite the core of the complex. This has a vestibule, an assembly hall and a sanctum. The central figure of this hall is the four-fold figure of Vairocana. In Vajrayana Buddhism, he is regarded as one of the five spiritual sons of Adibuddha- who was the self-created primordial Buddha. With awesome majesty he sits larger than life about two meters above the floor. He is depicted in a posture turning the wheel of law. On brackets arrayed along the walls and with stylized flaming circles around them are life sized stucco images of what are commonly called the Vajradhatu Mandala. Thirty-three in all these are other deities of the pantheon, for example Vajrasattva (rDo-re-dSems-pa) the 'soul of the thunderbolt.'
With five Bodhisattvas of the Good Age placed within, the sanctum is immediately behind the assembly hall. The walls around the stuccoes are richly adorned with wall paintings that depict the life of the Buddha. These have a purely Indian artistic style as it is said that the artists were specially summoned from Kashmir.
The Golden Temple (gSer-khang)
Once said to have been layered with gold, this temple was exhaustively renovated in the 16th century by Senge Namgyal, ruler of Ladakh. The walls and ceilings are covered with outstanding murals.
The Mystic Mandala Temple / Initiation Temple (dKyil-kHor- khang)
The wall facing the door has a huge painting of Vairocana who is surrounded by eight Bodhisattvas. Mystic Mandalas cover the other areas. Here the initiation to monkhood takes place.
The Bodhisattva Maitreya Temple (Byams-Pa Chen-po Lha-khang)
This has an image of the Bodhisattva Maitreya that is over six meters high. The temple has a hall, vestibule and sanctum. The array of murals within also depicts the monastery of Tashi-Chunpo and Lhasa's Potala palace.
The Temple of Dromton (Brom-ston Lha khang)
A small portico and long passage leads to its hall. The doorway is intricately carved and the inner walls are covered with murals. It lies on the northern edge of the complex and is regarded to have been founded by Dromton (1008-1064 AD) an important disciple of Atisha.
The above are accepted as the earliest temples of the Tabo complex and the following are later additions. The Chamber of Picture Treasures (Z'al-ma)
This is a kind of an ante room attached to the Enlightened Gods temple. It is covered with beautiful paintings of the Tibetan style.
The Large Temple of Dromton (Brom-ston Lha khang)
The second largest temple in the complex, this has a floor area of over 70 sq m, while the portico and niche add another 42 sq m. The front wall has the figure of Sakyamuni flanked by Sariputra and Maha Maugdalayana. The outer walls depict the eight Medicine Buddhas and Guardian Kings. The wooden planks of the ceiling are also painted.
The Mahakala Vajra Bhairava Temple (Gon-khang)
This enshrines the protective deity of the Galuk-pa sect. Fierce deities fill the room and it is only entered after protective meditation. At times it is called the 'temple of horror'.
The White Temple (dKar-abyum Lha-Khang)
The walls of this temple are also adorned leaving a low dado for the monks or nuns to lean against.
The temple complex is a national historic treasure of India and protected as such by the Archaeological Survey of India. **These informations are well available in literature and internet. I just included it here. Back to my trip diary:
Entering the monastery, rolling the prayer wheels.
Heading to the temple of Enlightened Gods
Having monks along payed off quite well. I went to every corner of the temple, it is really amazing to see inside of a ancient temple. Inside there are 36 idols of goddess.
I also went inside the Golden temple. The monk said there are 1000 painting of Lord Budha on the walls.
Few snaps from backside of the temple complex.
Entering the Large temple of Dromton. Below the huge figure of Budha, there is small passage to pass by, I don't know the significance of crossing through it but I followed the monks.
Nun going back after she finished off showing us the temple complex. The monk informed, nuns are employees of govt.!
A decorated Stupa
A view across the apple garden
The cricket ground: the Helipad, the organiser offered a cup of tea. Btw, the team from Hurling has lost the match.
(No)Net-practice before the gate of Dr. Y.S. Parmer University of Horticulture and Forestry:
Here come the banner of the Cricket Premier League:
I left Tabo at 1:00pm after a unforgettable time with monks.
Next Destination: Dhankar Village to be contd..