we cover a lot of ground with this post. sightseeing in gyantse, the trip to shigatse, sightseeing there.. and then on to saga.. our highest stay in the whole tibetan trip. at 4640m, saga is higher than darchen (4575m) at the foothills of mt. kailash.
...our day would
start early in gyantse hotel with a sumptuous breakfast at this dining hall with
its paintings and murals that made it look like it was a banquet laid out for
royalty...
we drove towards
the monastery from what is called 'old town.' of course the buildings and roads are made to look like olden.. one can
see the actual old town from higher up, behind these buildings
gateway to the pelkor chode monastery. our guide told us that this
was one monastery that welcomed all 4 sects of buddhism. it, along with the gyantse dzong (fort) nearby, was established in the 15th century. both the
edifices were destroyed .. partially during the british invasion in 1904, and then finally in the cultural revolution, and have been restored
recently. the monastery used to house
over 3000 monks at one time.. but has now dwindled to less than 100 of the
yellow-hat sect.
… thangka tigers roar on painting on the
walls of the entrance…
... walls that could not protect...
... almost looks like a head full of prayer flags!
.. a rare and interesting sight for me.. to see parrots on the paintings...
inside the
monastery these clay images in an inner
chapel were spared the ravages of the revolution, probably because it was
mistaken to be a storage place??? i paid money to take these pictures. most monasteries (more so in shigatse) charge
anywhere from 25 to 100 yuans for taking photos. more for video cameras.
not many
buddha statues in tibet with this pose, the bhoomisparsa mudra…
exquisite
sculptures... all in various mudras... guides say that the restored
clay images elsewhere in the monastery and the kumbum temple nearby do no match the artistry and beauty of these images.
.. in front of those clay statues is this gilded one...
inside this leather bag is a 500-year-old
thangka (pictured in the frame atop the bag) that is hand woven, 40 x 35 m and displayed
one day in a year on the wall on the side of a hillock next to this monastery.
in these niches
are handwritten scriptures.. the teachings of lord buddha on special parchment
paper. it is said that his teachings were recorded on 84,000
heaps—each heap denoting as many volumes that could be written with the ink that could be carried on the back of an elephant at one time! phew!
buttery artwork... artistic and colourful offerings
to the deity... all yak-butter based.
... details...
statue of sakyamuni buddha, with a lovely bejewelled crown in the monastery. the sculpture is said to be 8m high.
tall statues of the disciples like the wall behind the seated buddha
.. for me the most striking of all the monasteries and temple i visited was this.. the kumbum temple.. i guess because i saw in it a bit of swayambhu, a bit of bouddha.. and made me remember the trans himalayan influences... and my bhrikuti devi!
the kumbum (which literally means 100,000, said our guide thus signifying 100,000 images of buddha in the monastery) and the remains of a destroyed fortress overlooking it
our group begins to gaze at kumbum in amazement
.. so many features.. so many combinations of shapes...
.. best for me were the eyes ... clearly influence from across the himals.. so what if the eyes are blue!?
in the 6 levels of the monasteries there are all these little chapels, each with different deities . with paintings on the walls... there are 77 chapels in all. so i just visited a couple...
.. another little chapel...
.. and then in each of the 4 directions . in all the levels.. there are these bigger chapels... fascinating....
at the topmost level where visitors are allowed. this artwork over a doorway...
a view of the fort from the top of the monastery .. as well as the old town underneath it...
... breathtaking geometry...
...ganeshji on the side...
the saraswati star beneath the 'roof'
.. a final group picture before we depart for shigatse...
.. and this the route we took to go to shigatse.. a comparatively short drive without any high mountain passes...
.. the gyantse fort from the west.. as we head on our way...
.. the first 'regular' cow we spotted during our trip.. the walls are lined with guintha (cowdung patties)
brown hills along the way
and again.. greenhouses near the villages...
our road trip was punctuated with a lot of songs from each and every member of the trip (thanks to dr. khakurel for instigating that!) amongst others it included prabha...
deepa
thakurji
even baba who sang 'que sera sera'
.. tej bhai...
.. and the ever sporting ashu kabi dr shambhu man who coined the group anthem 'jham jham jhamma diamox ko goli ley"!
...entering a slightly more green and a bigger city shigatse...
...we first check into our hotel.. the very comfortable one...
.. prayer flags fluttering in the breeze outside...
.. and this altar of offerings for the gods in the lobby below... see the goat head.. all kamaal of yak butter and flour!
.. another interesting notice at the hotel with even more interesting language usage...for foreign lodgers. here at least we were referred to as lodgers. at gonggar airport , and at the permit counters later on.. we were all lumped as 'aliens' !!
we went and had lunch at our lichhavi jwain's place!
.. there was even a nepali shop across it... in many of the places upto shigatse.. there were many people i the restaurants especially who could converse in nepali.. which made it easy for us.. especially ordering food
inside the tashi-lunpho monastery. monks making artistic offerings with barley flour and butter...
.. this is done every full moon.. and the next one was just a couple of days away...
we didn't take pictures inside the various edifices inside the monastery complex, as the charges were too stiff... the tashi lhunpho is said to have been built by the first dalai lama, but was the seat of power of the panchen lamas. there are three main buildings (the 3 shining roofs i had seen from the plane!) each housing the remains of various panchen lamas.
.. the wear and tear of possibly millions of feet!
.. the display point for yet other gigantic thangka
the central monastery that houses a gigantic statue of maitreya buddha (buddha of the future). the statue of the seated buddha is made of gilded copper,is 26m high. the shoulders are 11m wide, and the fingers are each a meter long. a person's head would fit into the nostril!!
one thing interesting in this spot was the offering of pens that people made at the alter.. to become more knowledgeable in the next life!!
also it was in this monastery complex that i saw bells like the ones we have in temples in nepal!
the monks at this stage were preparing to hoist huge tents over the courtyard.. again in preparation for the full moon coming up...
.. a resting leopard on the wall...
one last backward glance at the monastery complex...
.. a visit to the local market was interesting.. they were selling nepali 2 rupees coins for a hefty sum!!! and local chhang.. also these goats/sheep!
.. also interesting.. rubber tires converted to water vessels!
the fort in shigatse looks like a mini potala. it was destroyed stone by stone during the cultural revolution,, and then rebuilt with concrete, with artistic outer coating to make it look authentic...
.. the next morning. we are on our way to saga...
by the time we reached saga (as you can see in the map) we were at the closest point in the trip with the nepali border (just north of manaslu conservation area).. and lhatse is where could have gone to the everest base camp!!
.. more tree plantation along the highway.. and colourful billboards advertising i don't what! there were many lottery ads in other places...
again afforestation taken seriously...
.. so much like the mountains along the kali gandaki valley north of jomsom!
.. there's just this one spot fo this hillside from where the top soil is yet to fall away!
.. so many layers.. so many textures....
pink and purple hills.. indicating minerals??
.. we had to stop at this point to bide time for the speed check point... this is when we saw this man trotting by on his horse... behind him is this huge solar energy farm...
closer look at the field of panels...
... a beautiful lavender coloured flower
this kind of fencing is all along the highway from lhasa to kailash .. and of course must be beyond too... surely prevents encroachment. as well as wild animals from getting knocked over by vehicles...
blue.. green, brown
a common sight in our country.. but rarer in tibet... animal's right to the highways...
.. pink soil...(and the wire!)
a new house being built.. and bricks being dried just in front of it...
.. i think this is the midway point of the 'friendship highway'. i bought some interesting stones here sold by old guys who seemed adventurous enough to try to confirm that my flab was not artificial padding!
climbing up towards a pass.. the road buttressed up with concrete structures...
at the top of the pass, solar energy for telecommunication.. there was only one spot where we saw a few wind turbines...
.. what goes up . must come down.. the highway now snaking its way to the bottom of another valley...
these solar cookers were a familiar sight in front of homes.. and even in front of nomads' tents.. they also have these tall briquette cookers that they use in restaurants mainly, with holes for three sets of briquettes, unlike the single ones we see in nepal...
and we meet the great river again.. and see more sand excavation from its banks...
these look like huge tumours on the face of the hill
...a jade green lake en route...
some curious yaks!
.. artisans prettying up a building...
again.. interesting rock formations... and the wires...
we saw these kind of bushes all along the trip.. they seem to ultimately form a circle..
.. more lavender coloured flowers... in one of our windy 'happy happy' spots
.. and a dog that looks at us in wonderment.. 'what are they up to??? they seem too happy!'
the sky becomes overcast as we head further west...
.. small delicate flowers...
and these pink azalea-like blooms that seem like they are stuck on the ground.. many of them without leaves around them!
.. we saw many of these kind of play and game equipment installed in front of little villages... the larger schools seemed very well equipped...
as we near saga.. we meet up with brahmaputra again...
this is where we waited for our entry permits (for aliens!) and the trash littering the riverside is again a sad sight...
.. and finally we reach our destination.. the guest house... where because of the flood of russian and indian pilgrims/tourists (yes, it seems mt. kailash draws lots of russian orthodox christian pilgrims too, aside from hindus and buddhists!) we had to spread ourselves in dorms.. the thick walls made it warm and comfy...
.. what was not very comfy were these pit latrines!!! (remember the ones in the potala??)
.. now.. next onwards towards paryang and manasarovar...
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