Close to Nature

Beneath the falls I strive to rise
rise high above and lone,
a look so resolute, makes them think
is it Me, or the nature beckons ?

[Gagan chukki falls, Kaveri at Sivasamudram]

Travelogue - Namdroling Moastery

The clouds were just sublime enough to give us a head start for the trip to Nisargadhama and the Golden Temple near kushalnagar, Coorg, in Karnataka. The day was cool and the Sun was just starting to gain its way through the thick clouds. A journey of 2.5 hours in the bus was mostly spent singing, though sporadically I was stealing a glimpse to look for any scenic landscape through the ways. The landscape was mostly barren throughout with little or no signs of vegetation. Having reached Kushalnagar I was expecting some Tibetan cuisine nearby to have lunch at but our group settled for the ubiquitous South Indian thali that was safe and devoid of the likely pains of experimentation.

The Golden Temple was our second halt of the day after the fun at the Nisargadhama bamboo forests. There are numerous Tibetian camps in and around bylakuppe around 5 kms from Kushalnagar. The place of interest for us was the Buddhist Golden temple, Namdroling Nyingmapa Monastery, in one of these camps. This was my first ever visit to any monastery. The air was of an absolute serenity with the monks carrying on their daily rituals as we entered the premises. Wondering how the feeling would be to be part of a community or camp with people visiting all the while and throughout the day studying the temple architecture the life style and the religion, I moved on. The residents as I saw were not distressed by the demeanor of the tourists taking out camera shots at every possible opportunity and studying with curiosity.

The main temple is decorated richly both from the exterior and the interiors in the sanctorum. The outside hosts a beautiful garden maintained to perfection, but it is the interiors that leaves one amazed.

The sanctorum houses the three immense deities of Lord Padmasdambhava, Lord Buddha and Lord Amitayus. The statue of Lord Buddha is 60ft in height and the height of the other two statues are 58ft. They are made of copper and plated with Gold. Inside the statues are scriptures, relics, small clay mould stupas and small statues. The dazzle from the statues illuminates the entire dome producing an air of colossal tranquility and one can sit hours on end admiring the work or meditating. The walls are adorned with huge paintings depicting the religious rituals traditions and myths. The dome is held by magnificient works on the pillars leaving an opening on the top for sunlight to wash the statues.

The campus is huge and stages another temple on the front. The rear of the campus is elaborate with hostels and playgrounds where children can be seen playing cricket in their traditional dresses.

The entire periphery of the temple premises is surrounded by scriptures and religious texts on flags and turning cylinders (Could’nt gather what these are called). These are supposed to be turned and read once a day by the residents.

This was a short superficial take on the Namdroling Monastery . It is a regret that we could not get enough time to interact with the inhabitants and get an insight into the life style and living (missing the tibetian cuisine too earlier!). We left the temple in an hour or so with thought lingering on what the monks and priests do for a living, how do they entertain themselves, what is their religious texts like, do they study physics or metaphysics, who is their favourite actress, what is their language like and above all what is their favourite dish !

Please be visiting this place at leisure with time to look around and interact with the residents. Else you have to return admiring only the immense statues and the desolate rose in the garden.