Every winter, thousands of Khampas descend on Sengze Village, just outside of Skye dgu (Jiegu) the prefectural seat of Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, for a religious festival called Sa skya smon lam (locally pronounced as Sakya may nlom). The festival is incredibly important to the Sa skya sect of Buddhism, but (as Dkon mchog dge legs describes in his 2009 article) also is vital to the local economy. In recent years, however, more and more Khampas have begun spending their winters in the warmer and far more comfortable urban center of Xining. What to do? Well, the sheer volume of Yushu natives living in Xining has led Skye dgu monastery to open a branch monastery here in town.
A stone's throw away from the Tibetan hospital, and close to a vast majority of the Yushu-heavy residential areas, the monks of Skye dgu monastery have purchased an entire building in an apartment complex and converted it into a monastery in the city. Permeated with the smell of butter lamps and fumigation offerings, it smells like any other monastery, although the surroundings and noise pollution quickly jolt you back into the reality of Xining. It does not dominate the city in the same impressive way that Skye dgu monastery towers over the town bearing the same name, but it is a center of activity for many from Yushu. This year, the prayer festival began on January 1st. While pictures on social networking sites made it clear that Sengze was the place to be, a small group of (particularly elderly) Yushu Tibetans could be found gathered inside the Xining branch of the monastery, chanting, while others spun prayer wheels, or lit butter lamps. They even have an impressive kitchen in which food and tea are prepared. There were so many worshippers present that people had to sit outside the main prayer hall and chant along as the lead monk, using a microphone, had speakers placed around the area. Here are some iPhone images from the event and the place.
0 Comments
|
About TimAs you can see elsewhere on this webpage, I conduct research on ethnic minorities in western China. This blog offers semi-academic musings on the minutiae of daily life out here--the sort of information otherwise destined for footnotes. Categories |