Sunday, April 19, 2009

Striking a Chord With Buddhism

Visiting a Buddhist temple was hardly on the cards for my Singapore trip. For one, the thought didn't occur even once when I tried to make a list of things I would like to do here. But as it would turn out, I found my self visiting a couple of Buddhist temples, and almost made it to a third.

The courtyard at the entrance of the Tooth relic temple - yes, it was raining again!



Talking about the Buddha tooth relic temple is almost straight from the tourist guide. To be honest, that's how I landed upon it in the first place - I was looking up China Town, and this temple is round the corner, just off Pagoda street and therefore fell into both mine and Uniquely Singapore's China Town 'itinerary'. Having said that, the temple is simply one of the magnificent of Buddhist temples I have seen - in a rich and grand way. It's simple exterior gives no clue of the rich, impressive hall or the eye-dazzling Maitreya inside. I was in awe.

A lady lighting an incense stick in offering



Ironically, I also witnessed one of the most beautiful Buddhist services with people were singing in a choir like fashion here. Despite what seems like a lifetime of monasteries in Sikkim and Ladakh, this is the first time I saw or heard anything like it. The song was lyric-less. And the whole of it sung with the one syllable 'ah'. For once, I wish I could sing right now instead of using these words so you can also see how beautiful it was. (Although, you are probably better off not hearing me sing!). It was one the most moving prayers I have heard. I stood there for almost an hour -just like that, just listening.

People singing together



And the last thing I liked about this temple (yes, one more reason) - they have a nice museum on the second or third floor. In the Ladakh trip, I finally picked up a guide which ran through some of the basics of Buddhism. My knowledge before being limited to only Gautama Buddha, but the religion itself has a begining much older than that. The museum tracing the life of Gautama Buddha was a nice stop, adding a few more grains of information.

The Maitreya in all his glory

11 comments:

Sriram said...

Nice... you are discovering the spiritual side of you ;-)

Karthik M said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Karthik M said...

The nitpicker in me says : Should be "religion" in "...but the religions...". And just like with Apple, there is always a debate about whether it is a religion or a way of life :)

Final_Transit said...

Nice post Neeraja,

But is Buddhism really older than Buddha? I'm not sure if that's true. There was Hinduism from which the whole concept spurned off.

Your descriptions are wonderful. I'm sure the place was charming and spiritual.

Ms.N said...

@sriram ... these are stumble upon discoveries

@Karthik - no doubt about that

@FT...thanks!!!

Gautama Buddha is believeed to be a re-incarnation of a bodisatva by name Sakyamuni. So yes, buddhism existed before, and he in that form was born to revitalize the religion.

In fact, while visiting Sikkim, we went to a couple of Bon monasteries - they belive Bon is the older form of the current buddhism.

And of course, the Hindu influence is undeniable !!!

I dont think I have understood it entirely myself, but i thought its a shame if i went to so many monasteries and didnt get my basics right, right?

Unknown said...

N, reading this makes me want to head off to Ladakh straight away!

Thanks for the UK recommendation but this is a trip for work so can't do Scotland this time. Would meet two school friends though later. I am at their mercy.

Ladakh is not happening this year too, but we are trekking in the Himanchal region.

Have you relocated to Singapore?

Neeraj | www.bharari.net said...

Great pictures! Which camera do you use?

GMG said...

Hi Ms.N! Interesting post. Lovely to discover new spots... I was surprised when I visited India town in Singapore and saw my first Hindu temple...

Blogtrotter, which is still turning around Vilnius, waits for your comments. Enjoy and have a great Sunday!

Cate said...

Interesting pictures, very ethereal looking, go well with the topic.I think I know the place where you visited but my shots look just like tourist pictures.

Sankt Ingen said...

Yup, the point of shooting and point of views well taken

Ms.N said...

@ Mridula - somewhere in the hills sounds good. nope- i was on a months trip to sing - now back in bby!

@ neeraj - 350D

@ Cate - thank you! i had tons of those - manged to find a few which did go with the story!

@SI - tx!