120 acres of temple compound, innumerable Buddhas in red and gold - in this gallery are 108 larger than life Buddhas...the Buddhas are 600 years old, covered in gold leaf...the bases are modern reconstructions.
The whole temple complex is in a constant state of renovation, a 350 million dollar project, and everything is in pristine condition. Some of the Buddhas in these temples are beyond comprehension. Here the reclining Buddha...50 meters long, 34 meters high, all covered in gold leaf...I managed only to catch a part of him...
Everywhere a temple, in every temple another Buddha
....a film set for James Bond comes to mind....
:
In the middle of this, Bibi and I had our fortunes told by one of the temple fortune tellers, a Mr.Sawong Kontong, who is 82 years old, and, it seems, very knowledgeable. He started by telling us our past before proceeding to tell us the future...
.and based on the accuracy of the past, we now have a pretty good idea what is in store for us. Time will tell how accurate his predictions are.
We crossed the river by ferry
to see the Temple of Dawn on the other side. Bibi attempted the climb to the top...
.I opted for a leisurely view from the bottom...in company of these young Buddhist monks...here young men do 3 months of temple duty at the age of 20.
No comments:
Post a Comment