118m a side for the greatest Buddhist monument in the world. 4 staircases crack its walls and lead the hesitant visitors towards the way of wisdom and spirituality. At each floor, a pathway snakes around the building. More we climb, more these paths shorten. The way to the bliss gets closer when I arrive at the first top level. Stone bells drilled with hexagonal spyholes let us see the sitting-and-praying Buddha statues inside. The body is shut in, but the thought and spiritual strength seem to carry out through the openings of the wrapping.
This monument shows the high Buddhist activity which livens up the island of Java, a few centuries ago. Then, Islam spread out attracting most of the inhabitants and the influence of the Borobudur temple crumbled away little by little, passing from the status of praying and devotion place to the one of huge architectural remains registered on the World Heritage list.
It nevertheless remains this large, impressive and massive pyramid for which the use of a puffy, black volcanic stone turns out to be uncommon. The dark stones let only carry out the essential thing. The illuminations become embedded in the foot of the pathways and the often-beheaded Buddhas statues have pride of place on the low wall. They point at the outside, acting like magnets for the faithful. And for a couple of hours I change into one of these faithful people.
before heading back to Yogyakarta, « the soul » of the Java island, our van makes a detour to the Merapi volcano, subject of a devastating eruption a few years ago, then we stop at the Hindu-deities-dedicated Prambanan temples for a short time. Last Indonesian meeting before I fly off to Malaysia.
Keyword - pilgrimage -
Tuesday 2 September 2008
the pyramid of Borobudur
By dorian on Tuesday 2 September 2008, 09:28 - RTW2-Indonesia
Tuesday 2 October 2007
The pilgrimage of the Sikhs to the golden temple
By dorian on Tuesday 2 October 2007, 14:30 - RTW-India
Amritsar is for the Sikhs what Mecca is for the Muslims, a holy city. Once in their life, the Sikhs have to carry out a pilgrimage to the golden temple.
Chorus of honks, tangle of bicycles, rickshaws and horse-towed carts welcome us. First images of a milling, life-seething town. A forgotten atmosphere since we went off to Himachal Pradesh in exile. The Indian truth resurfaces again. In the streets, thick beards on smiling faces topped by firmly swaddled turbans. The Sikhs, a bewildering religion.
On the way to the golden temple, we stop in front of cages full of chicks. Further to genetic modifications, they wear colours oddly different from the common yellow. Actually, the invigorating dyes aren't only for the Hindu women's saris...
We draw near the enclosure of the temple whose one of the gilded cupolas drift above the drab and filthy street. Other white-angel-like domes break away from the muddled alleyways we step on. We take our shoes off, don a scarf on the head and get into the holy area. A mesmerizing music surrounds the holy place and hundreds of followers tread around the artificial rectangular lake. Some of them purify themselves into its waters while others line up to visit the golden temple.
This quite recent religion is definitely baffling but offers us an architectural jewel, a temple covered with glistening golden leaves when richly coloured pilgrims with turquoise, pink and orange shades soak in this musical and religious aura.
Sunday 30 September 2007
Buddhist wisdom near Dharamsala
By dorian on Sunday 30 September 2007, 11:23 - RTW-India
It's hard to sleep on the winding and bumpy roads of the Himachal Pradesh. We finally pull in at 5 o'clock in the morning at MacLeodGanj. We go for finishing our night in a faraway guesthouse, lost at the end of a dusty alleyway.
Not far from Dharamsala, MacLeodGanj is the haven of many Tibetans whose dalai lama, the most well-known among them. The tibetan exodus started in 1950 while the Chinese invaded their homeland. A museum reminds the struggle of fundamentally pacifist people and brutally repressed by the Chinese army. The catastrophic result sends a chill down our spine. The systematic destruction of the monasteries and temples reached the frightening number of 90%. More than one million of Tibetans passed away and several ones fled despite the harsh conditions of the Himalaya crossing. A pacifist solution seems hard to find so that Tibet gets its independence back. And the Chinese keeps on carrying out the "sinization" sending millions of Chinese to live in Tibet, to such an extent that, from now on, Tibetan are minority in their homeland.
MacleodGanj is a haven, a welcoming land for this thousands of Tibetans in exile. Refugees wishing more than all going back to their occupied country. We stop in front of the humble dalai lama's dwelling. Followers and onlookers huddle together to see him, shake his hands or take part in a collective meditation session.
We won't have time to meet him and leave the place hopping on a morning bus to Amritsar, capital city of a remote but symbolic religion, the Sikhism. At the India scale, a few hours from Dharamsala, religious capitals meet in the tolerance and the mutual respect.