MecLaud Ganj - A Tibetan hub

Our hotel was in MecLaud  Ganj.  If you are in MecLaud Ganj and you have not seen Dalai Lama temple means your visit will have no significance. We kept our main visit to the last day of our stay in MecLaud  Ganj. Dalai Lama temple is at a walk able distance from our hotel Bhagsu .


Morning we had a breakfast at Bhagsu and then we packed our luggage and checked out at 11 AM. Generally check in and check out time will be 11 AM -12 PM. We kept our luggage in the hotel only. We gave tips to the service man and he took care of everything. At 11:30 we were there in Dalai Lama temple entrance.

Dalai Lama temple 





Dalai Lama Temple
You find more information about Dalai Lama temple in internet. Here I am putting my experience. On entering the gate, on right hand side, we saw the photos of martyrs died in the freedom of Tibet. On left hand side, you find a shop where you get the Tibetan books,clothes and some artistic ornaments.





Before entering the temple, you have to handover the electronic equipment like Camera, Mobile in the counter reserved for that. Once you enter the temple, they have kept the photo of the 11th Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima. He was detained by China Republic and has not been seen in public since 1995. He is the youngest political prisoner in the world.

Tsuglagkhang complex, that is what they call to the place where Dalai Lama is staying. On first floor temple is there. There are lot of ancient books which are originally written in Sanskrit and some are translated to Tibetan language. There are books on Buddha's teaching and what critics has to say on those teachings.Tibetan king's statue looks awesome and it has an artistic shape.

I found prayer wheels very interesting. You have to turn it in clockwise direction.


What made me curious about this place is their clap discussions. They had a unique style of discussion on religious subject.One person stands and preaches a point and another sits and challenges the debate. Once the argument finishes, the arguer clap the hands to suggest the end of that topic. They continue for another discussion. I saw a passion in them while debating.





We had a plan to visit Tibetan library. We were hungry and  had momos outside the temple.On the way we found prayer wheels near one temple. Buddhist temple was quite different and had statue of martyrs.



We didn't get an opportunity to visit since it was closed on second Saturday. We walked through old age home to reach Tibetan library. Quite a long distance we walked even though the GPS was showing less than 1 km.



Tibet Parliament in Exile





Even though we couldn't go inside Tibetan library we saw parliament of Tibet in Exile in front of that library (from outside). How Tibetans condition in supervised in India ? The answer to that is this unofficial exile parliament.

Shopping


 

 After seeing Parliament of Tibet in exile we took a Taxi to Dalai Lama temple where we started shopping.Though I said,shopping in Dharmashala is a costlier affair, you have to see some artistic ornaments which is supplied from Nepal. Vineeth bought lot of rudraxi Mala. You get some Buddhist dresses which are rare to find in our cities. For ladies this might be the paradise for shopping.




After shopping we went for lunch in Tibetan hotel for a change.It was already 3:45 PM. We ordered some veg soup and please don't ask me the names. We ordered Thopu Spaghetti as a main course. Thopu is a Paneer like food prepared from milk of Soybeans.In between we enjoyed the Tibetan conversation of some beautiful Tibetan teens. After lunch we roamed around city till 6 PM. Then we went to hotel to take our bag since our bus to Delhi was at 7:30 PM.





When we boarded the bus I felt like missing some thing. Saying good bye to Dharmashala or MecLaud-Ganj was tough but we had no option. Experiences I had here will never be forgeten in my entire life.


I recommend Dharmshala to one and all.





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