Find Tibet in the hot plains of Coorg: 13 Apr 2010

We started at 9 am from Srirangapatna to Coorg. Taking a right from Mysore Ring road and turning right to get on to the Hunsur road. It was a pleasant ride and as we neared Kushalnagar we started enquiring about the Tibetain settlement. There were many pork shops on the road so I was sure that there was a different kind of culture thriving there but then I also knew Coorgees too eat pork.

We took a turn to the left thru a narrow lane marked as Golden temple at Bylakuppe. A Tibetian guy on a scooter guided us right upto the temple at Camp 4.

It is an awesome sight to walk into a monastery alive and vibrant as this one. You walk around the elaborately decorated temples and shrines. The afternoon sun dehydrates us there is water available to drink but no water in the toilets! We decide not to have water instead buy some chilled badam milk to quench our thirst.

The towering golden statues of Padmasambhava, Buddha and Amitayus is something you will remember all your life. The monastery is clean and silence is maintained. Unlike our chaotic Hindu temples all other places of worship are always so peaceful. I captured on camera the entire view of the Namdroling monastery's main hall. The stories from Buddhalife come alive in the murals. Fables you have read in Amar chitra katha are enumerated here in tibetian style of paintings. The pagoda like temples trasnport you into a different land altogether but there is something amiss, you are in the hot plains of Coorg unlike the chilly weather in Tibet!

 

After an hour or so there we went to Camp 4 which has the tibetian university called the Dera Sey monastery. This one is surrounded by refugees camps. The monastery had closed for lunch but we did get a glimpse thru the windows.

Do visit to experience the uniqueness. There is more to see than I can write about.

We then proceeded for lunch at a nice little restaurant in Kushalnagar and had a leisurely lunch of some North India food as we realized there were not many of options for good South Indian fare here.