Prayers for peace: India's Tibetan Buddhist pilgrimage centers
COPYRIGHT 1998 News World Communications
After the Red Chinese invaded and occupied Tibet in 1950, the
traditional nation ceased to exist. Despite the claims of Chinese
President Jiang Zemin, before the U.S. Congress last October, that
Tibetans are "living in happiness and contentment," all evidence
indicates that the occupation has produced a brutally severe
repression of the Tibetan people and their culture. "He told
whoppers today," commented Rep. Christopher Smith (R-New Jersey).
Following the invasion, the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader,
fled to India and settled in Dharmsala in Himachal Pradesh. Many
Tibetan refugees went with him, and others joined him in later
years. Thanks in large part to the support of the Indian government,
a thriving community now exists in the beautiful foothills of the
snowcapped Himalayas. Perhaps even more significant, Tibetan
Buddhism and culture have survived intact.
Following the festivities of Losar, the Tibetan New Year, the Dalai
Lama teaches here, attracting devotees and students from every
corner of the earth. Believers often credit his presence with
imbuing the region with a rare sense of tranquillity. Tibetan
Buddhist monks and adherents serve as doctors, painters, and
craftspeople. Dharmsala also sustains a society for traditional
dance and song, a library and archives, a boarding-school complex
known as a "children's village," and even a small Tibetan government
in exile.
Dharmsala and Bodh Gaya (where the Buddha attained enlightenment
under the Bodhi tree) have become centers of pilgrimage that attract
practitioners and visitors from throughout the world. Bodh Gaya is
Buddhism's most important site. This small town in Bihar is filled
with temples. The heart of the town is the Mahabodhi temple, its
shrine-and flower-filled grounds, and the site of the Bodhi tree.
Thousands flock here each year to circumambulate the temple in
devotion.
Each February, Bodh Gaya hosts the huge ten-day festival known as
Monlam. This is the most popular time for visitors and the highlight
of Bodh Gaya's winter activities. The village is packed to capacity.
The festival is a dazzling experience of colors, costumes, and
candlelight. Here, before the people of the world, monks and nuns of
the enduring Tibetan tradition conduct rituals and offer prayers for
global peace.