Tag: Qinghai Xining Kumbum monestary Buddhism Tibetan Plateau

Kumbum Monestary

In 1577, a monestary was built at the birthplace of Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelugpa sect of Buddhism.  It was called Kumbum Jampa Ling, which means “supreme Buddhist temple with one hundred thousand lions’ roar Buddhist images”.

These stupas greet you at the entrance of the monestary. 

In its hay day, this temple was home to 3600 monks.  Rulers during the Qing dynasty donated Buddhist art, stupas, statues and many other treasures.  Even today, Kumbum is home to more than 100,000 relics.  In other words, it is a very important location for Buddhism, and also for history. 

Judging by this photo courtesy of Wikipedia, the monestary looked like more of a village than a monestary.  The place was huge!!

Now, around 400 monks still live at the monestary, and even though it isn’t the same as it once was, it is still a very impressive place to visit.  We spent 3 hours roaming around the monestary, admiring the architecture, Buddha’s, art, and the scenic environment. 

Photography is forbidden in the temples, so most of my photos are of the outside of the buildings.

What impressed me most about Kumbum temple was the architecture.  I’ve never seen so many colours (except maybe in India!).  Every building has elaborate designs and the most vibrant colors!  There were a few rooms that allowed photos, so I was able to get some examples for you.

We saw worshippers praying, enormous prayer wheels and so many impressive Buddha’s.  So much of the most beautiful things in the temple couldn’t be photographed, of course, but I was very happy that there were a few places where it was permitted. 

There were quite a few tourists and pilgrims at the monestary.  Kumbum is considered one of the most important temples in the Tibetan Plateau.  Many people were there to pray, light candles, and worship in various ways.  It always upsets me when I see people taking photos of pilgrims or items of religious importance.  When we first walked in, several monks were telling off some Chinese tourists for photographing them as they were walking around the Stupas. I had actually been photographing the Stupas at that time and I made sure those pilgrims knew that I had my camera up and focusing on the structures, and not on them.  

There are plenty of interesting things to take photos of without disrespecting the people there worshipping.

One other thing that really made me feel good about monestary was the wildlife.  There were also many friendly felines roaming the monestary. They seemed well fed and friendly.  A good sign that the people living there treat them well. 

I certainly recommend this monestary for anyone visiting Qinghai.  Located about a 1 hour Didi ride from Xining, Kumbum is a beautiful place to visit and with an entrance fee of less than 100rmb ($20), it’s an affordable place to see.

Love the Tibetan style windows!!

We’re just getting started on this trip!  Check back soon for more!!

TAR vs Tibetan Plateau

Over the last few days, I’ve had several people send me messages, assuming that we are in Tibet.  Although we ARE surrounded by Tibetan Culture, we are actually not in the province of Tibet. We were planning to go to Lhasa and mount Everest initially, but our plans were thwarted due to permit issues.  I understand that this part of China can be a little confusing, so let me begin by explaining more clearly. 

Cultural Tibet

Red = Tibetan Autonomous Region
Grey, Green & Purple = Tibetan Plateau

The Tibetan Autonomous Region is a special area of China.  If you’ve paid attention to global news over the last few decades, you’ve surely heard about the conflict there.  Tibet has long wanted its independence, but of course, China does not want this.  So, instead, they’ve given them a special ‘autonomous region’s status.

Potala Palace and Mount Everest are both found in the TAR, so we weren’t able to see them this year, because…

You need a special permit to be able to enter the TAR.  Hypothetically speaking, this shouldn’t have been a problem.  We had everything in order long before the trip.  Until recently, Tibet WAS closed to tourism for foreigners, but in May, the ban was lifted.  Still, the government isn’t actually issuing any permits, so even if we can technically should be able to go to TAR now, without that piece of paper, we wouldn’t be allowed to enter.

Luckily, Tibet is more than just the TAR.  You can get a great feel for Tibetan culture and life by visiting the rest of the plateau, and this is exactly what we decided to do. 

Tibetan Buddhism

Just as there are different forms of Christianity (Protestant, Catholic, Mormons…), there are also different forms of Buddhism.  Although they are all similar, there are key differences in the different sects of Buddhism.  I won’t go into much detail here because I’m no an expert on this stuff, but what I will say is that most Buddhism falls under one of the following categories: Theravada Vinaya (located in south east Asia mostly), Dharmaguptaka Vinaya (mostly found in China, Korea, Vietnam and Japan) and Mulasarvastivada Vinaya (practiced on the Tibetan Plateau as well as in Mongolia and northern India). There are many sub sects within each of these categories, of course. Buddhism is a very old and complex faith. You can learn more about the finer details of Buddhism here

Golden statues of Buddha are found among most of the major Buddhist sects.

Up until recently, Dave and I had only ever experienced the first 2 categories of Buddhism.  We’ve seen many temples in south east Asia, of course. So many that we have actually started skipping many of those temples when we travel. Tibetan temples though, have been a completely new experience for us.

  • This is a newly renovated Buddhist temple that we visited last year in Lijiang, China.
  • We saw this temple on our trip to Laos a few years back. A lot of the south east Asian temples have a lot of gold featured.
  • From the outside, the Tibetan temples look a lot like the Chinese ones, but once you go inside….
  • The colours are colors are vivid and beautiful
The different types of Buddhist temples

Prayer Flags

Another thing that sets Tibetan Buddhism apart from many other sects is their use of Prayer Flags. I learned about these since arriving here and I’ve gotta say, they’re kind of a nice idea.

Each color of the flag represents different elements of the earth (wind, water, fire, etc.), and each flag has an Om written on it. The idea is that the wind will carry the good wishes of the Om through the wind that makes the flags flap. That’s why these flags are only found in windy places like Nepal and the Tibetan plateau.

The sounds they make while flapping in the wind is actually beautiful and LOUD!

These Buddhist prayer flags are found everywhere we’ve gone so far on this trip. One other interesting thing I discovered while learning about them is that the older the flags get, the more auspicious they are considered. If you see a prayer flag with faded colors, it means that it’s done it’s job, and spread compassion, ethics, patience, diligence, wisdom and other values out into the world. Nice tradition, I think!

I always knew these flags were meaningful, but after seeing (and hearing) them up close, I appreciate them that much more.

Did I mention how big they are??

We visited Kumbum monestary yesterday, near Xining. It was a beautiful visit and I’ll have more on that soon!