A day at The Golden Temple- Namdroling Monastery
The ride from Mysore to Madikeri (the previous day) without a jacket or any warm clothes on in the night had made us sick with a slight fever. The next night after our trip to Mandalpatti we finally found a shop for winter clothes and bought Jackets and made it ready for the return journey to Mysore which is the first best decision we made in the year 2019 I think now. We left our homestay early morning with a target of reaching Mysore before 4 O'clock in the evening and making a stop at Kushal Nagar to visit the Golden temple of Namdroling Monastery. This area is home to many Tibetan settlements and famous for the Golden temple (Buddhist temple) inside the largest Namdroling monastery in the world.
While going back we could see the roads we passed at night in light and it was beautiful. Both sides of the hairpin turns were coffee gardens and tall trees. Coorg is also known as the Scotland of India for its misty climate. This place is famous for its spices too. There were many spice shops on road sides and they displayed cloves, cinnamon and many other spices in the shelves. Also, there were many shops that sold Pork and it seemed like Coorg style pork is a local special cuisine. We could not try it though with our weak health.
Kushal Nagar is 30 km from Madikeri and we reached there by around 10 O'clock in the morning. We had breakfast from a restaurant that we saw on the street but there are cafe just near the monastery and a small cafe inside the monastery. The only part of the monastery that was allowed for the tourists to visit is the Golden temple premises I think because there was another gate that read " No entry to the tourists" and there were no entry fee to enter the Golden temple. You can learn about the monastery and the related details from their official website: http://www.namdroling.org/
The gate to the golden temple stands just close to the road and colourful with the aesthetics. Being someone with very less knowledge about Buddhism I could only enjoy the beauty of this place through it colours and artworks without knowing the stories and depictions behind them.
The inside of the monastery campus is calm and beautiful with trees, lawns and colours that gives an instant positive vibe. Once you enter the gate to the temple complex you're not allowed to take videos. At the center of the exterior of the temple itself is the picture of his holiness Kyabje Penor Rinpoche who set up this monastery. We reached at a time when the prayers were not going on and the temple was empty because of that.
There are three different prayer halls in three different buildings to visit (I don't really know if they're all called temples hence calling them as prayer halls). It is asked to remove your foot wares before entering these prayer halls and the temple.
Before entering the halls there was a block with small lamps all lit and kept in a series. It resembles the lamps that are commonly seen in Hindu temples.
The first prayer hall we entered was a hall with the walls painted with many colours and the mythical characters I am not familiar with. Only small part of this hall is accessible to the visitors. There was a monk chanting prayers/ reading a book in one corner of the hall and he seemed to look after the entire hall at that time. The hall echoed with "Bhudham saranam gachami" continuosly on loud speaker. I think it is best to add more pictures of the hall instead of explaining the things I don't really know the meaning.
A couple assisted by a monk entered the hall and then taken into the restricted area for the visitors. From the monk who was chanting prayers they got pieces of white clothes and offered them at the big golden statues.
The second hall was beside the first hall we entered. Even though it seemed similar in colours there were less statues in this hall. While we were inside this hall, a father and daughter came inside and the father started praying by bending down and offering incense sticks.
The third one was the biggest building inside this campus. I assume this is the major part of the campus and Golden temple. Guarded by two lion figures at the entrance this prayer hall is huge. You need to remove your foot wares to go inside. There is a counter to keep your foot wares and it costs Rs. 2 for the service.
Inside this temple there are 3 huge statues in golden colour. The pillars near this alter like area had roaring thunder dragons on them. Below the statues were three seats and below that steps to the hall.
The entire area is colorful with wall paintings designs on pillars and ceiling. This is a place where you can sit and feel peaceful with an empty mind.
Since we had to reach back to Mysore before evening we left the monastery not waiting for the prayers to start at 1 PM. Just outside the temple complex and within the monastery premises there are many small shops. There are souvenir shops, book shops and so on. One of such shops sell incense and dried leaves and other interesting items. This place is filled with the sound of wind chimes.
Visiting Golden temple inspires to learn more about the Tibetian culture. I had visited this place during my childhood from school and been amazed by this place. I remember how excited I was to see monks at that time asking one of them to pose for a picture and talking to him. Returning back home my Mom asked looking at the pictures: "Where are you guys in this?" and I said "Mom, look at this, can we even see places like this again?". Little did I know we'll have internet and google and even VR! The stop at Golden temple was also reliving a childhood memory, a very fond one of mine.
As expected we reached Mysore on time and I decided to stay in Mysore for few more weeks.
PS. This is a travelogue from Golden temple in Karnataka. As someone who doesn't know much about Buddhism and the practices I apologize if any words or explanations sound offensive. It will be highly appreciated if you can help me correct any such sentences in the post. Also, it would be my pleasure to if you wish to bring something about the culture to attention through comments or message :)
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