Let’s (for now) change topic, because I would not want you to think that I am doing nothing but sitting in my hotel room, admiring the decor and the views.
So yes, I DO go out to explore the city;-).
What I had read about the 10.000 Buddha’s Monastery sounded intriguing, so of we went for a visit.
The foot of the mountain on which it is built is easy to reach by MTR, but from there it is a steep walk up. Then again, this climb is actually part of the experience and part of the monastery, since the path up is lined with hundreds and hundreds of golden buddha’s.
 |
| The beginning of the path up. |
The monastery is in fact no monastery, since there are no monks. It was hand-built by a devout Buddhist layman named Yuet Kai and his followers.
There are almost 13.000 buddha’s, from which several hundreds are more then life-sized. The majority of the number is formed by tiny buddha’s belonging to the small boxes with ashes inside the temples on the premises.
|
| It was a beautiful, but oh so hot day. The climb was long and steep. Quite exhausting, I must say. |
As said, the path is from beginning to end lined with golden buddha’s, each in a different pose, with a different physique and expression.
I read somewhere that they are supposed to be Buddha’s followers, to be precise.
Let’s have a closer look at some of them:
|
| Very different characters, right? |
|
| Some of them appear to be quite ecstatic;-). |
|
| Others look weird or fierce. |
|
| The left one has relaxed, sleepy eyes. The right one has hysteric, scared eyes. |
Some appear to be big children-friends:
Well, this goes on and on, all the way to the top.
Pfffffew…. So we made it? This is the top? Uh, no. But almost. There are some smaller pavilions here and some nice vistas, so we can catch our breath and cool down a bit!
|
| This statue was gigantic! |
|
| This pavilion was so pretty inside that it took my breath away. |
|
| Strange….uh….creature? |
There is a little bit of hill left to climb from here.
|
| There is a modest waterfall. |
|
| Ofcourse the mountain is filled with golden statues. |
|
| On top of the waterfall is a lying Buddha. |
|
| The views are gorgeous. |
|
| And a bit higher is a final, large, white statue. |
Time to head back. First to the level where the biggest temple is and a vegetarian restaurant.
|
| The side of the main temple. |
|
| Beautifully decorated. |
|
| With more, sometimes weird, statues. Like the one with the XXL legs. |
|
| Or this one with the XXXXXXXXL arm. |
|
| And what about this one, with the XXL eyebrows? |
|
Wow, that was a lot to take in. Now it’s time to really go down hill. This route down was steeper. I have one weak knee and a week after this sightseeing trip it is still painful!
I wouldn’t have missed it for the world though. It is very unusual and the surroundings are beautiful!
Thank you ever so much for sharing this. It is an amazing site. The last buddah but one (on the blue animal) is gay and I saw some femal buddahs as well. Never seen that before. Oh they were followers.. perhaps that makes a difference? I heard a Dutch ex boxing girl (Lucia Rijker) is a buddist and she explained that there are more stages than the tranquil one we all seem to know.
Greetje
Yeah, I was wondering too about the female goddesses. It is not always clear to me 100% and information in english is also not always widely available. Sometimes I regret that, but mostly I am able to enjoy my sightseeing nevertheless. This site was indeed amazing. Thanks for your comment, Greetje!