While I was in Coorg (in the south Indian state of Karnataka) recently, I had the pleasure of visiting the Nyingmapa Tibetan Monastery and Golden Temple.
It’s easy to see why it’s named the Golden Temple. The amount of gold inside the temple is quite overwhelming, as are the immense statues of Buddha at the rear of the temple.
Tibetan thangka painting.
Inside the temple, there are also a number of hand painted Tibetan works of art, called thangkas.
Monks inside the temple.
Monks inside the temple.
I was fortunate enough to visit the temple while the monks were conducting their morning ritual. It was truly a sight to behold.
Monks leave the temple.
The monks’ exit from the temple was just as captivating.
Monks re-assembled outside the temple.
The monks re-assembled outside the temple, at the entry to the compound.
The Golden Temple is an unexpected attraction of Coorg, but one that’s definitely worth seeing. The monastery is home to hundreds of monks, with the Tibetan settlement apparently being the second largest in India. The area is full of culture. There’s a small shopping centre selling colourful Tibetan products as well.
Nyingmapa Tibetan Monastery and Golden Temple are located near Kushalnagar, around one hour from Coorg’s main town of Madikeri.
Entry is free for all.
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Ah, how lovely! Kudos to you for having the nerve to take pictures. When I was at the Temple of the Golden Buddha in Bangkok I didn’t feel I should take any on the inside. I got plenty of the outside of the temple, which was impressive enough, but the inside was spectacular and I have not souvenir!
I did feel a little bad but it helped that there were plenty of Indians in there, clicking away with their cameras unrestrained! If it wasn’t for them, I might not have had the nerve.
The Vajra Guru Mantra is the mantra associated with Guru Rinpoche, also known as Padmasambhava.Guru Rinpoche himself has said, “In the future, such times will befall sentient beings and both in a temporary and in a long term sense, the benefits of the Vajra Guru mantra can be definitely be felt.Since my spiritual instructions and the methods of practice that I offer are immeasurable, I have hidden a great number of treasure teachings in the water, rocks, the sky and so forthIn these evil times, even individuals with fortunate karma will find it difficult to encounter these teachings. It will be difficult to bring together the necessary circumstances for these teachings to be revealed. This is a sign that the collective merit of beings is on the wane.
However, at such times, if this essence mantra, the Vajra Guru mantra, is repeated as much as possible, a hundred times, a thousand times, ten thousand times, a hundred thousand times, a million, ten million, a hundred million times and so forth, if it is repeated in holy places, in temples, next to great rivers, in areas where gods and demons abound, if it is recited in these places by tantric practitioners with pure samaya, by people with monastic ordination who maintain their vows purely, by men and women who possess faith in the teachings, if they give rise to bodhicitta on a grand scale and recite this mantra, then the benefits and advantages and energy of such practice are truly inconceivable.”