Tsuglagkhang- McLeod Gunj
Wednesday, December 05, 2007Tsuglagkhang is the main temple complex in McLeod Gunj, I had heard. For most of us in India temples are synonymous with architecture that dates back atleast 5 centuries & even if the temple is new no effort is spared to replicate its predecessors. So I walked up the concrete stairs of Tsuglakhang with a strange sense of anticlimax, forgetting that this was built by a people and culture in exile. But that said, there was no mistaking the sense of sacred in the open terraces of the temple and the sanctum sanctorum. Here the Silences were at home, as monks went about their prayers undisturbed by the constant stream of tourists.









The hall is lined on either side by beautiful Tibetan Thangka paintings

Padmasambhava- This image is from shunya.net Details of the throne on which the Buddha is seated.
Details of one of the many Thangka paintings

The temple also houses one of the largest collections of sacred Tibetan texts.
Around the main temple the corridors are lined with prayer wheels that you can spin while you circumambulate around the sanctum.


I mentioned the tourists :)

Some monks you knew not to disturb

The others were gracious and actually smiled for you :)
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