Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Travel Trails - The Golden Temple (Namdroling Buddhist Monastery)

I love being bitten by the wander bug and as often as possible - For what is life without travel ? Enriching us of many experiences and also giving fresh insights and perspectives, travelling is a way of escaping the monotony and indulging in many magical happy moments.


{Source:Google Images}


And living to the hilt by this maxim, we set off to Mysore and Coorg (Karnataka,India) last week and got lost in nature's beauty. It is during our stay in Coorg that we came to know about a   Tibetan settlement and a wonderful monastery.The monastery is popularly called as NAMDROLING and is located in Bylakuppe, which is 14 kms from Kushal Nagar, Mysore District, Karnataka. Bylakuppe incidentally houses the second largest settlement  of Tibetans in India.In 1960 the Government of Mysore allotted about 3000+ acres of their lands to the Tibetan refugees seeking asylum in India and thus came in to existence Bylakuppe.



Also called as Little Tibet, the roads of Bylakuppe are dotted with Buddhist prayer flags on every building/house or wire or lamp post.




Buddhist teachings are upheld in this monastery as Namdroling is a thriving settlement to over 6000 + monks and lamas. The architecture is typical Tibetan and spells ORNATE all over..



The beautiful campus in which lies the spectacular temple is dotted with eye catching flora and a few guinea fowls around.


Established by HIS Holiness Pema Norbu Rimpoche and consecrated by His Holiness Dalai Lama, the Temple houses 3 large golden plated statues of Buddha Shakyamuni ,Buddha Padmasambhava, Buddha Amitayus of about 60 ft each.


The inside of the temple takes your breath away as it literally is like stepping in to another realm. 



Buddha's life history---



The walls are colorfully painted with beautiful frescoes of the god and goddess of Tibetan Mythology.



Next to the golden temple is a small temple of sorts were we saw many monks deep in prayer. Chanting and spinning their prayer wheels, the boom from the drums and the calls of their horns had us enthralled.




Besides the temple, the campus is also home to a retreat center and there are a few Tibetan shops housing a lot of souvenirs we can take back home. 
The monastery draws huge international and national visitors besides a large number of students seeking knowledge on Tibetan way of living. A must visit place if you are travelling to Mysore/Coorg




17 comments:

  1. Travel is a wonderful wonderful thing !
    Beautiful pics .. I have been to Mysore and Coorg but I didn't know about the monastery there !

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  2. Who would have thunk that there would be a treasure hidden somewhere in the most unexpected place?
    Thank you so much for the pictures - the inner sanctum of the temple just took my breath away...indeed it is like stepping into another realm.
    :)

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  3. Have been there couple of times and yet its not enough ! Even the food there especially Momos are yumm.....

    PhenoMenon

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  4. Superb pictures. I can imagine how breathtaking it must have been to actually step into the temple area.

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  5. What a beautiful temple and lovely pictures. thanks for sharing.

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  6. How amazing that you could visit all these places, and you have some stunning photographs in there :)

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  7. Amazing pics! It is so serene in these temples, I like the calming effect they have on me!

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  8. Amazing
    That first pic IS SO TRUE !
    I travel so that life doesnt escape me. I bought a silk tote at monastery and those luck charms and bells. I still have them. It was 5 years back. I wrote a post "The heavenly coorg trip"s ages back. Check if u have time
    GOOD DAY!

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  9. A pic tells us thousand stories. Just beautiful! :)

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  10. I have been to this place and it is amazing. But, has become too crowded with tourists lately.

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  11. Beautiful pictures ! thanks for sharing !

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  12. Been there on a short trip once.... loved it

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  13. Great pictures! I like the quote in the first one. New follower here. I'm stopping by from the "A to Z" challenge and I look forward to visiting again.

    Sylvia
    http://www.writinginwonderland.blogspot.com/

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  14. I am so glad I joined this blog challenge. I am learning about so many new places. Thanks for sharing, I have been to Mysore only.

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  15. Breathtakingly beautiful! I'm ashamed to say that I didn't even know about Tibetan settlements in Karnataka!

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  16. I had no clue that such a place existed, Priya. But it explains the presence of so many Tibetans in Bangalore, perhaps.

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