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Bhutan Religion |
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Bhutan Information |
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30,000
Bhutanese on pilgrimage to Bodh Gaya in India
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| Bodhgaya temple in Bihar, India |
Bodhgaya
in Bihar, India, is one of the holiest sites for Buddhists all over the
world, where prince Siddartha gained Buddhahood 2,500 years ago. It is
six in the morning and the mercury has fallen to two degrees Celsius as
scores of beggars huddle in a small tight group to keep themselves warm.
With
begging bowls in hand, they patiently wait for Penjore and the others to
finish prostrating in front of the massive Mahabodhi temple. But they show
no signs of stopping. |
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The
elderly Bhutanese pilgrims, conspicuous in their ghos and kiras, circumambulate
the Mahabodhi temple early in the mornings and in the evenings when the
main spire of the temple, a fifty metre tall pyramidal tower, crowned with
a bell like Stupa, glows softly by the light of thousands of butter lamps
surrounding it.
The
Bhutanese pilgrims are together with Tibetans, Japanese, Koreans, Westerners
and hundreds of other Buddhists to attend the nine-day Duekhor Wangchen
and the Kalachakra ceremonies conducted by His Holiness the 14th Dalai
Lama.
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| "I
consider myself a very fortunate person to receive blessings from His Holiness
the Dalai Lama and other high lamas like the Gyalwa Karmapa and Penor Rimpoche,"
said a Bhutanese pilgrim. |
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For
60-year old Choden from Khaling, Trashigang, the trip was a fulfillment
of her long desire to visit the sacred site.
"
There is an overwhelming presence of God here," she said. Like many other
Bhutanese pilgrims, Choden and her daughter left Bodhgaya to visit Nalanda,
Sarnath, and other sacred Buddhist sites.
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an old woman from remote Shingkhar Lauri geog, Samdrup Jongkhar, does not
have the means to visit the other holy sites. She spends her time praying
near the Mahabodhi temple. Beyond the temple complex, the Bodhgaya town
is bustling with activity, cashing in on the religious sentiments of the
pilgrims.
"Everything
here is commercial, even burning the butter lamps," said one pilgrim referring
to the sale of ready-to-burn butter lamps for Rs 2 a lamp. |
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Accommodation
is expensive and finding one is an even bigger problem. Almost every open
space in the town is full of tents and temporary shelters rented to pilgrims.
A small room, which can barely house about five people cost about Nu 8000
a season, that is till the Wang and other ceremonies end, which is usually
for a month
In
the true Buddhist practise of Tshethar or saving lives, pilgrims also spend
a good amount of money buying live fishes from fishmongers and releasing
them in the lake near the Bodhi temple..
| Contributed
by KUENSEL, Bhutan's National Newspaper 2004 |
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