Reliving Lingdum (Ranka) Monastery
Tibetian Monasteries, They do come close to sprinkling the magic calming dust on me. Among the very few monasteries that I have visited, many in Sikkim, some in Kalimpong and the rest in Bylakuppa, one monastery , just thinking if it transports me back. Lingdum or Ranka monastay near Gangtok in Sikkim.
Perched on a mountain Ranka welcomes you with a series of prayer wheels (Maybe close to hundred) just after you enter the monastery complex, running along in an arch. The need to walk by and turn every one of them is so strong. As you turn them, I remember the sound of the wheels slowly coming to a stop one after the other on it's wooden pivot against the cool mountain breeze. It is such a sweet sound. Knowing that they contain scrolls of "Om mani padme hum" written in them never stops to amaze me.
Then you come to the actual entrance of the monastery, you can see the far off painted wall from the entrance door, but you only realise the space and the size of the monastery once you enter. A quadrangle with a pillar in the middle , spacious, clean and calm. With a monk or two walking across it. Rooms of 2 floors on all three sides and on the 4th side stands the sanctum of the monastery, so majestic, almost empty as if it's structure just has been sitting there from a long time. The colours of the monastery, patterns on red and orange against the lush green mountain side is hard to forget. With the monks wearing their brick coloured robes walking past the beautiful mural paintings, it was hard not to keep photographing, but I did feel I would disturb the place with the sound of the shutter release. Once on the level of the inner sanctum, the building and doors and paint on the side walls were exquisite and almost alive with vibrancy.
I must have shot every door there, obviously. I can't even remember how many hours we were walking around, but what I remember the most is the sound of the flute, played from one of the rooms where the monks stayed. I stood in the corridor and listening to the flute for many minutes. I felt like it was the right music for that mood of the place. Ranka monastery radiates a calming aura. I do not remember the flute tune but as I close my eyes and think of Lingdum monastery I remember very well how I felt standing in the shade of the corridor, with the flute playing in the background overlooking the quadrangle and the structure around the inner sanctum against the green hills with a hint of prayer flags fluttering in the mountain breeze.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/variedreflections/12618858025/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/variedreflections/5874018386
Perched on a mountain Ranka welcomes you with a series of prayer wheels (Maybe close to hundred) just after you enter the monastery complex, running along in an arch. The need to walk by and turn every one of them is so strong. As you turn them, I remember the sound of the wheels slowly coming to a stop one after the other on it's wooden pivot against the cool mountain breeze. It is such a sweet sound. Knowing that they contain scrolls of "Om mani padme hum" written in them never stops to amaze me.
Then you come to the actual entrance of the monastery, you can see the far off painted wall from the entrance door, but you only realise the space and the size of the monastery once you enter. A quadrangle with a pillar in the middle , spacious, clean and calm. With a monk or two walking across it. Rooms of 2 floors on all three sides and on the 4th side stands the sanctum of the monastery, so majestic, almost empty as if it's structure just has been sitting there from a long time. The colours of the monastery, patterns on red and orange against the lush green mountain side is hard to forget. With the monks wearing their brick coloured robes walking past the beautiful mural paintings, it was hard not to keep photographing, but I did feel I would disturb the place with the sound of the shutter release. Once on the level of the inner sanctum, the building and doors and paint on the side walls were exquisite and almost alive with vibrancy.
I must have shot every door there, obviously. I can't even remember how many hours we were walking around, but what I remember the most is the sound of the flute, played from one of the rooms where the monks stayed. I stood in the corridor and listening to the flute for many minutes. I felt like it was the right music for that mood of the place. Ranka monastery radiates a calming aura. I do not remember the flute tune but as I close my eyes and think of Lingdum monastery I remember very well how I felt standing in the shade of the corridor, with the flute playing in the background overlooking the quadrangle and the structure around the inner sanctum against the green hills with a hint of prayer flags fluttering in the mountain breeze.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/variedreflections/12618858025/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/variedreflections/5874018386