Saturday, September 26, 2015

Rainbows of Zhiyun Monastery

Temples are a feast for the eye. I feel like an explorer, discovering all the incredible details contained within them. A feast for the eye. Not constrained by the limits of the number of film exposures, time was my challenger. 
Despite suffering destruction during the Cultural Revolution (only 6 buildings of the original 13 are still around), there still was plenty to see. 

The monastery had several of these intricate door handles and rainbow braids. The creatures on them looked sort of like dragons, but their snouts were more like the trunk of an elephant.


In addition to rainbows and bronze, red dominated the hues of the walls. This website says that the color red in Tibetan Buddhism is associated with life force and preservation. The rainbow connotes the highest state prior to achieving nirvana.  

I'm so grateful for having the opportunity to visit such incredible places. So different from the little dairy farm on which I was raised. 

No comments: