As I see myself: March 2009

Tibetan Flavour in Karnataka
Mar 31, 2009

I finally get over my 140 character limitation

The greatest wonder about Bylakuppe is not that a place like this exists but where it exists. Thousands of miles from Tibet, the last thing you would expect in a nondescript interior Karnataka village is to find the largest Tibetan settlement outside of Tibet!

Hemant is a great chap and shares by passion for travel. The destination is for the tourist. For travelers like me and hemant, its the journey that matters. Thus on new year's day, me and Hemant set out on a journey in pursuit of peace and tranquility in times of uncertainty. We boarded a Kushalnagar bound bus at Kempegowda bus stand and at 250 bucks for both of us we were well in sync with the economy! After a nice bumpy ride in the back seat of Karnataka Sarige for five interesting hours of travel/china/adult art/Tibet/religion/honchos at shell/doomed politicians/photography we got off at Koppa.

Soaring inflation seems to have given this village a miss. 8km auto ride cost us 30INR. 5 minutes into the ride the landscape changed abruptly. Roadside hawkers, cows, garbage, and ramshackle huts disappeared. These were replaced by prayer flags, stupas and monasteries of the Sakhya, Kagyur, Nyingmapa and the yellow-hat Gelguppa sects of Vajrayana Buddhism. The statutory Kannada sign boards were replaced by prayer signs in Tibetan. It was as if both of us were teleported into a foreign territory.

We reached our first stop, Sera Jey Health Care Committee (SJHCC) guest house, a small and beautiful location. The monk in the reception was happy to see us. It was already late in the evening. Thus, after a quick chowmien we decided to wander around in the bylanes. Just as we stepped onto the road, a sea of burgundy robed monks swamped the route. Like the Ganges gushing through a delta, the monks came in from all sides onto the main road. It was unbelievable to watch 4000 monks fill in the voids between the buildings.

We followed them to the Sera Jey University for Adavnced Buddhist Studies. and obsereved them for quite some time, puzzled and bewildered at the constant jumping and clapping they were doing. An elderly monk from the examination board explained to us that they were actually debating. The monk who was sitting was asking questions and the monk standing would answer, always ending it with a clap!

Day 2 started with yet another hot chowmien. We realised after a quick chat with the monks that there were bigger treasures hidden behind the rustic buildings of the Sera Jey village, territory usually left unexplored by the banal tourists! We meandered through the unusually clean village gallis and landed in front of Sera Mey University for Monastic Studies. The Sera monastery was originally founded in 1419 in Tibet. Historical records indicate that the Monastery's total population of monks in 1959 before the communist Chinese troops destruction & persecution of Monastery & monks,was around 5629 monks! The event of 1959, that witnessed the invasion of Tibet by the communist China, was the darkest period in the History of Tibet and its religious faith - Buddhism. It brought the near end of centuries old Monastic Culture and Practice, by the indiscriminate destruction of monasteries and persecution of monks. Sera Mey Monastery was one of the most severely affected from this spiritual & cultural genocide. The Tibetan government in exile then re-instituted this holy institution in Bylakuppe.

After a breezy clicking session and prayer we decided to visit the golden temple, the biggest monastery in the region and also the most visited by tourists. It is quite some distance away from Sera village and we were lucky to be offered a lift by an army major and his wife driving by a car en route Mysore. They were pleasantly surprised to find two young engineers spending an extended weekend in a Buddhist Monastery of all places. The old man was very curious to know our last names! The old lady generously gave us some fruits and they dropped us off a km away from the Golden Temple.

If you think a Buddhist temple would be filled with smoke, reeking of butter, throbbing with the chants of the monks and perhaps a gong or two sound in the distance, think again! The entrance to the main temple comprised of two gigantic red doors with handles and carvings in gold, intricate murals based on Tantric Buddhism adorn the walls. A profusion of color hits you once you eneter the temple. Silly tourists asking their companions to pose in myriad dance forms, despite a board stating "this is a temple and a religious place"! Three larger than life giant statues, once again gold plated, took centre stage; these were placed on a platform. Buddha around 60 feet tall held prominent place, flanked by Guru Padmasambhava and Amitayush.
It was here that we came to know that Penor Rinpoche, The former head of the oldest school of Tibetan Buddhism, breathed his last at his residence the previous night. The monks held a condolence ceremony followed by prayer for the holy departed soul. After a whole day of clicking and peace in the temple, we made our way back to Sera Jey to sit and observe the debating session.

Day 3 began with the best pooris I ever had (Best because it was the cheapest!!!). I topped it up with some original momos from the Tibetan Kitchen. Most of the shops were closed as a mark of respect to the Rinpoche. We were initially disappointed, but later saw this as an opportunity to explore the entire settlement. We walked around aimlessly, clicking randomly, windmills, basketball courts, future Tibetan rebels. Monks carrying mobile phones, wearing Reebok shoes, or even sipping Pepsi did not surprise us now. After all, as Thomas Friedman said, "The world is flat". Unfortunately we couldn't find any monks who were putting up their Ferraris on sale!

After a really tiring walk back to SJHCC, we packed our bags and headed towards Kushalnagar where we boarded a bus to Bangalore, thus ending a really fruitful weekend.