For the past 25 years there has been a great deal of construction in Bodhgaya by international groups of Buddhists. There are many temples and monuments. These are a few that Robin and I visited.
Land of Many Blessings
This 80 foot buddha was built by the Japanese. Notice the women in saris, many Indians come here on pilgrimage.
As we approached the Buddha these fellows in dhotis strolled in front of us, muttering their prayers.
One of my favorite spots to visit is Bero Khentse’s monastery.
It is here where I met our dear friend Mariane Rydvald painting these murals, the 12 Deeds of the Buddha.
The monks were engaged in puja making it a very resonant experience
Other devotees would come and go. I was so happy to see how they appreciated Marianne’s artistry.
One afternoon we took a little trail through a bit of forest bordering the main temple and arrived at this abandoned Hindu monastery.
It was a photographer’s dream
The buildings were lined up in such a way that when you gazed through the doors it looked like an endless hall
One of the delights of our visit was meeting Ajieine, a dear friend of Robin’s. She is a student of HE Situ Rinpoche and the main fundraiser/organizer for one of the nunneries in his care.
Karmapa’s sister was visiting Ajieine one evening, discussing the challenges of turing the authority of the nunneries over to the nuns themselves.
Another surprise was meeting Lisa, the lovely friend who had picked us up at the airport in Honolulu.
Across the street from our hotel the Chinese devotees made this enormous butter lamp offering. There were many Chinese, mostly from Taiwan, but some from mainland China
I needed to talk to a few lamas that I knew would be in the area. We went to the Kagyu monastery and were delighted to discover that the Karmapa was also staying in this building.
We were not allowed to photograph him generally but peeking through the window, watching him give blessings, I took the opportunity.
He is so tender with the older Tibetan women. Robin and I did not seek out a personal interview since we were there for such a short time and he was so very busy.
Strolling back to our hotel.
Bodhgaya is a very poor area. We were always surrounded by beggars.
Lama Chodrak made arrangements for our hotel stay. He was very helpful. He was in charge of hospitality for the Monlam, a big job.
The air was terrible. Most of the time we wore masks.
It was time to go. HE Situ R would be resuming teachings of the 21 Taras. We were so grateful that we had taken that leap of faith and traveled to Bodhgaya.
Our auto rickshaw zipped along.
India
We only needed one porter....he put everything on his head and lead us up the stairs, down the stairs and around the congestion. Always hire a porter when taking a train in India
Of course there was a long wait.
But we were in good company. Wherever you look in India it is a feast for the eyes.
