Light is getting low... hurry to into the monastery...
Notice construction on the top there.
Entering one of the temples. I took no photos inside as it is disrespectful. To enter, males must step over the foot-high threshold left foot first, careful not to touch the wood. Females step right foot first. No hats, no photography, no commerce.
The interiors of the temples are some of the most elaborately decorated structures I have ever seen. The walls and pillars are painted with bold and bright colors, day-glow accents and gold trim. Giant bronze Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, or Vajrayanas tower over everything else, and they are adorned with gifts of fruit, money, bottled beverages, and trinkets. A monk is usually at the base of the statue, reading scripture and available to talk with any worshipers. Visitors should walk in a clockwise direction, and a tunnel under each statue allows them to circomvent each room. Photos, statues, paintings, and word commemorate other deities, monks past, and Lamas. Everything is colorful, decorated and meaningful. It's sensory-overload. If one wall isn't stacked with statues, its walls are covered with deity-filled murals (Tibetan Buddhism has hundreds of deities). Money is stuffed into every crack, set on every surface, and offered on platters to the deity or dead who best symbolized what the worshiper needs, wants, or has. The scent of potala incense is calming, and the chanting of monks, either in the temple or from some distance away, gives me a sense I am out of place, yet safe and at peace. I could easily spend hours in each temple, viewing the art, observing the details, (and if I could read Tibetan or Chinese) learning a bit about the people honored there.
If I could photograph inside the temples, I'd plan a trip based on it. For now, the experience is all I needed.
