as small as a world and as large as alone

9:55pm August 16, 2013

odditiesoflife:

Amazingly Beautiful Monasteries

1. Hanging Monastery - Perched precariously halfway up a cliff some 75 meters (246 feet) above the ground, this Monastery is one of the most remarkable sights in China. Consisting of a complex of 40 rooms linked together by mid-air corridors and walkways, it appears to be glued to the side of a sheer precipice. The Monastery was built in the 5th century and has there for 1500 years.
2. Yumbulagang - According to legend, Yumbulagang was the first building in Tibet and the palace of the first Tibetan king Nyatri Tsenpo. Its name means “Palace of Mother and Son” in Tibetan. Under the reign of the 5th Dalai Lama, the palace became a monastery of the Gelugpa school.
3. Ganden Monastery - One of the ‘great three’ university monasteries of Tibet, located at the top of Wangbur Mountain. The other two are Sera and Drepung Monasteries. In 1959 the monastery was completely destroyed by the Red Guards and the mummified body of Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Monastery, was burned. Reconstruction of the Monastery has been continuing since the 1980s.
4. Key Gompa - A thousand year old Tibetan Buddhist monastery located on top of a hill in the Spiti Valley. The monastery has been attacked many times during its long history by Mongol and other armies and was also ravaged by fire and earthquakes. The successive trails of destruction have caused  the monastery to look like a fort, where temples are built on top of one another.
5. Thikse Monastery - A Tibetan Buddhist monastery of the Yellow Hat sect. The monastery is located in the Indus valley in India. It is a 12-story complex. One of the main points of interest is the Maitreya Temple which is installed to commemorate the visit of the 14th Dalai Lama to the Thikse monastery in 1970.
6. Taung Kalat - This Buddhist monastery is one of the most breathtaking sites in Burma. To reach the monastery, visitors must climb the 777 steps to the summit. One can see the ancient city of Bagan and the massive solitary conical peak of Mount Popa, the volcano that actually caused the creation.
7. Taktsang Dzong - Situated on the edge of a 900 meter (3,000 feet) cliff, the Monastery is an impressive sight, and is the unofficial symbol of Bhutan. It is about 2-3 hour, uphill hike from the parking lot to the monastery. According to legend, Guru Rinpoche flew to this location from Tibet on the back of a tigress and Taktsang was consecrated to tame the Tiger demon.

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