Saturday the 21st, I left for Bangalore, as from there, we were to go to Bylakuppe. Bylakuppe is a Tibetan settlement, about 85 kms from Mysore. It also houses 13 Monasteries, from which the famous ones are The Golden Temple, Sera Monastery and Tashi Lhunpo, amongst others.
I boarded the bus for Bangalore, at about 9pm. A very nice vehicle, and the best part was that it was clean and was smelling a lot better than the normal buses i have traveled in before. Thanked Neel for the suggestion to get into this one. It had 2 seats on either side of the walkway, and I got comfortable at the aisle seat. We moved on, and they played a comedy movie on board. Once the movie finished, and the speakers went dud, all of us prepared to go to sleep. i tried to push my chair back, but it just wont budge. I tried again, but nothing. I told to myself, this is why you shouldnt stop working out :D
Well, a few minutes passed, and slowly different types of rhythms started surfacing. Im sure, if Beethoven would have heard it, he would have created another masterpiece. The guy beside me had started snoring, though, it wasn't that loud. only whent he guy in front of me started his heavy snoring, that the competition began. Sometime my neighbor was loud, and was ahead of the one in front of me,with his series of snores, and sometime vice-versa. In between, some background music was thrown in by a couple of ppl behind me, somewhere there.It went on for sometime, before i checked the time. It was just about 11pm yet. I couldn't sleep, as my seat was upright. Hence, went out in front and told the bus cleaner, about the problem with the chair. He came along, and tried it once - didn't happen.The second time, he literally stood on that lever, and behold!! It went straight down :) aaaaahhhh at last i can get some sleep now :) Next thing i remember, I was in Bangalore.
I reached Bangalore by 6:30am, and Neel came over to pick me up. We went to his place, I got ready, and Sethu, Neel and I, left for the Pixetra Store, at Cunningham Road. Thats where, the rest of the group was. We all got to meet each other and left for Bylakuppe.
On the way, there were brief introductions, and a stopover at Lemon Tree restaurant. After that, i dont know what happened, as I was zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz :D
We had to search a bit, for the monastery, but we landed up at The Golden Temple.
A very serene place, and I must say – very colorful. Especially the blues, they stand out. As soon as you enter the gate, you are welcomed by the huge open space, and then another gate leads you to the temple. We loitered around a little, and went off to the other Monastery, where we have a friend in a monk, who goes by the name Lobsang Nyima (meaning – Beloved/Gentle Sun).
We reached Tashi Lhunpo Monastery (TLM) by evening time. Yannick took us around the Monastery, and told us about the dance rituals and how its going to proceed.
This dance ritual takes place, just before the Tibetan New Year, to prepare for the new year, and to get rid of the evil from the last year (Please correct me here, if I understood wrong). The dance has different forms to it, and different ppl perform it in different ways. Eventually, the effigy, which is covered by white cloth given by the local ppl, and the money donated by the people, all goes up in flames, signifying the burning of evil for the coming new year.
We were there in time to see their practice dance. But it was too dark for proper pictures. Hence, after a few pics, we bid farewell to Yannick, and went over to our home-stay, for a fabulous home-cooked meal and a good night’s sleep, in preparation for a very early morning.
The next morning, we were up by 5, and by 6, 6 of us were ready to leave for the TLM. When I got out of the room, i couldn't see the ground, from my first floor room. No, i hadn't turned out to be blind, but it was the thickest fog i have ever see yet. When we went out of the house, it seemed like there is a huge white wall behind our minibus, as nothing at all was visible. After reaching the monastery, we walked around a bit, as everyone was busy with the preparations for the day to follow. There again, fog gave us some really good opportunities to click.
The experience of being there with those kids, for the first half of the way was amazing. There was a completely different feeling in the air. Of course cold, but something which was very pleasing and comforting. Comforting from the hustle bustle of the city-life i presume. But felt really nice. The kids had their duties to carry out, and those who knew English, always passed by with a simple and smiling “Hi/Hello/Good Morning”. There were so many happy faces around, that me, not being a people photographer, wanted to click so many ppl/kids out there. They were like any other kid, just that they were without those heavy bags, without the stress about exams and schools, without having to worry about what their parents or teachers are going to scold them for, when they get to school today.They were all playing amongst themselves, and soccer seemed to be the leading game there.Pulling each others’ legs, having fun around the monastery, and there was so much bonding between themselves, I dont know how to explain it.
By about 8am, it was time for the dance to begin. I didn't even realise, that one and a half hour had passed, and all I was doing, was looking at these kids play. We went in and the dance started, and so did the inflow of people and tourists.
The dancers had very colorful masks on, and one of them was Dharmaraja, who was spoken about for a lot of times, while being explained about the dance.
The dance consisted of slow rhythmic movements, with huge Trombones (see pic) and Cymbals and Drums.
The dances went on till about 12, and then the effigy was taken outside, behind the temple, to burn it, and to start the new year a fresh. As soon as the effigy was burnt, all the people started clapping and dispersed with all the good wishes.
With this, the complete rituals were over, and we all were invited to the sumptuous vegetarian lunch, which we ate like we had never seen food before :)
We left for Bangalore that same afternoon, and I came back home, to Hyderabad by 25th morning. All in all, it was a very good experience, to have spent such time with the monks, especially the kids. Would love to do that again sometime.
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