Nagarhole - Yet Another Attempt to see a Tiger: Kerala and More Part 4

This is a new post, though it covers the events of the Ist and 2nd of March 2024
It will bee moved to its appropriate chronological position soon

Yet Another Attempt to See a Tiger

01-Mar-2024

So Where Exactly are We Going?

India

Kerala

We had enjoyed our day in the port city of Kozhikode (formerly Calicut), even though the combination of heat and high humidity made it hard work. Next day, we headed inland, climbing up the Western Ghats, the long, if intermittent range of hills (and sometimes mountains) that follows the line of the coast for 1,600 km. The temperature changed little, but the humidity was lower and there was even an occasional cooling breeze.

Our destination was the Kabini Jungle Lodge in the Nagarhole National Park, a journey of 140 km that was expected to take 4 hours. Indian roads do not make for speedy travelling.

Southern India

Kozhikode to Kabini

Breakfast at Kozhikode

Before leaving we had an early breakfast at Harivihar, our quiet vegan retreat in bustling Kozhikode. I am not ready to commit to being a full-time vegan (or even a vegetarian), but I would eat a meal like our dinners and breakfasts here any day (just not, perhaps, every day). Breakfast was multi-faceted, but here is a picture of a fried puri with spiced vegetables.

Puri and spiced vegetables, Harivihar

You know you are in Kerala when frying is in coconut oil, mustard seeds dot the vegetables and fried curry leaves are abundant – though they are as invisible in this picture as the coconut oil.

On the Road

The journey through small towns and up into the hills was interesting. The road was not as steep and the bends as tight as some we have seen, but they claim there are nine hairpins.

A modest hairpin on the way up from Kozhikode - all vehicles on the correct side of the road

Once on the plateau we were in the Wayanad district of Kerala, and Wayanad is tea (and coffee) country. The Chellotte Estate on the edge of Chundale is typical, tea bushes fitting together like crazy paving and wind breaks of silver oaks.

Chellottoe Tea Estate, Chundale

Chundale (at least half of its name must have been inherited from the British Raj) was halfway through our journey in distance, but more than that time. We stopped at a clean, smart café where we were charged all of 20 rupees (20p) for a small but excellent coffee.

Some 30 minutes later we reached Panamaram. Built in 2013, Panamaram’s church of St Jude with its exuberant modern style and abundant straight lines is typical of the area.

St Jude's Panamaram (and telephone cables)

Kerala has more Christians (6 million, almost 20% of the population) than any other Indian state. According to tradition, Kerala was evangelised by the apostle St Thomas and an ancient but thriving group of churches influenced by Syriac (Aramaic) language and theology are known collectively as the Syriac Christians. This umbrella covers several denominations, some Eastern Orthodox, some owing allegiance to the Roman Catholic Church and others independent.

St Jude’s, Panamaram is as Syro-Malabar Church, a denomination in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church.

Into Karnataka

Karnataka

20 Km beyond Panamaram we crossed from Kerala into the state of Karnataka. Indian states are comparable in size to US states; Kerala is relatively small - a little larger than Maryland but has a similar population to California. Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, the other southern states we will visit on this journey, are between 3 and 4 times bigger than Kerala and have populations of 70 and 82 million respectively.

India has an abundance of people (1.4bn, having suprassed China as the world's most populous nation in April 2023) and an abundance of languages. Each of the three southern states has its own language, Malayalam in Kerala, Kannada in Karnataka and Tamil in Tamil Nadu, and each language has its own alphabet. These are Dravidian languages, unrelated to the languages of northern India, like Hindi and Gujarati, which are of the Indo-European family.

Across the Park

Indian national parks do not usually have public roads across them, but Nagarhole is an exception. We were stopped at the park entrance to be given instructions – basically no stopping, no littering,

It takes 20 mins to cross this neck of the park, mostly through Kakanakote Forest, though some areas are more wooded than others.

Kakanakote Forest, Nagarhole National Park

There were forest dwellers here long before the National Park was created in 1988. Most were from a tribal group known as the Jenu Kuruba - Jenu meaning ‘honey’ and Kuruba ‘forest dweller.’ They lived by small scale agriculture, fishing, hunting, and gathering roots, tubers, berries and, most importantly, honey.

Jenu Karuba dwellings, Nagarhole National Park

There are today 37,000 Jenu Kuruba speaking their own language which may or may not be a dialect of Kannada (authorities differ.) They have been ‘encouraged’ to leave the park and most now live in extreme poverty in 80 or so villages around the perimeter, eking out a living as agricultural day labourers. 2-3,000 still live their traditional lives within the park. The politics around this issue is hotly debated, and I would be foolish to venture an opinion.

To the Kabini Jungle Lodge

Beyond the park it was a short drive to the Kabini Jungle Lodge. The ground was more open here and the nearby Lake Kabini encouraged the presence of wading birds.

Pond Heron, near Kabini

There were also agricultural villages….

Agricultural village near Kabini

…and domesticated cattle.

Cow, Kabini

In overwhelmingly Hindu Karnataka, cow slaughter is illegal. Cows can, though, provide dairy products while oxen are used as draft animals. Painting the horns is an easy way to mark ownership when herds graze together.

Arrivial at Kabini Jungle Lodge

We stayed in Kabini in 2016. It seemed to have grown since and lost some of its personal touch, but they showed us to a new, clean, spacious ‘Maharaja Bungalow.’ A real Maharaja might have found something to complain about, but we liked it. A buffet lunch was available for all residents and as Nagarhole has a largely Indian clientele the food was much better than at lodges catering for perceived European tastes (see Ranthambhore). In 2016 they had a full bar, sadly that appeared to have disappeared.

Safari (1)

We presented ourselves for complimentary coffee and biscuits at 3.00 and then made our way to the long line of jeeps and buses. There are several places to stay locally but all land and boat safaris depart from Kabini, so the crowd was large and apparently chaotic. Fortunately, we have been here before and know that somewhere there is the Man with the Clipboard who knows everything. We found him, and were soon in our designated jeep and ready to go.

At Nagarhole and ready to go

Our first attempt to see a Tiger was here in 2010, just months before I started blogging. We enjoyed a pre-dusk safari on the lake, and a post-dawn safari in the woods. Our second attempt in 2016 was also here and followed the same pattern (see Kabini & the Nagarhole National Park). We saw elephants, monkeys, squirrels, mongooses, deer, a variety of interesting birds, and a fearsome crocodile or two, but all we saw of tigers was a paw print in the dust. In 2018 we visited Ranthambhore (link above) in Rajasthan, a reserve renowned for its high tiger-spotting success rate. In two trips, our highlight was a distant view of a leopard, while everyone else back in the hotel swapped stories of tigers and sloth bears (and I am not sure what they are!). Now we were back at Nagarhole for two more attempts.

We looked cheerful enough in the photo, but I was unconvinced that tigers are afternoon people. We set out around 3.30 and were scheduled back just before the sunset three hours later – there is little seasonal variation in sunset times this far south. The warmth of the day lingers and tigers, I think, prefer the cool of the morning.

We saw spotted deer - they are always abundant. The larger sambar deer, tigers' main prey, seemed to have taken the day off.

Spotted deer, Nagarhole Tiger Reserve

Gaur were grazing down by the lake – they became the world's largest bovid when the aurochs went extinct in 1627. Though locally plentiful they are considered vulnerable, with a little over 20,000 adult individuals, mostly in India.

Gaur, Nagarhole Tiger Reserve

Elephants like to come down to the lake as well.

Elephants, Nagarhole Tiger Reserve
The photo shows two adults and a juvenile not an eight-legged elephant

We saw no mongoose this time, but there was a wild pig (though no photograph.)

Back in the woods we spotted a Malabar giant squirrel…

Malabar giant squirrel, Nagarhole tiger reserve

….and there are always black faced langurs.

Black-faced langur, Nagarhole Tiger Reserve

The langurs are important for finding tigers. They are vulnerable on the ground as a tiger snack, but there is always a look-out up a tree to give a warning bark. The urgency and frequency of repetition are a guide to the tiger’s proximity and whether it is hunting, walking or sleeping. We heard no langur alarm calls the whole time we were out.

Overall, it was a disappointing afternoon and as tomorrow morning’s safari would be on the lake with little chance of glimpsing a tiger, I was glad we had booked two more attempts at nearby Bandipur.

Arranging Tomorrow and Re-Arranging Tonight

The Man with the Clipboard met us off the jeep. ‘What do you want to do tomorrow?’ he asked. I hesitated briefly, not realising we had a choice. ‘I hear you have had bad luck with tigers,’ he continued, ‘if you really want to see one, a jeep would be best.’ Somebody must have spoken to him on our behalf, which was pleasing, though we had not asked for special treatment. We had enjoyed previous ‘boat safaris,’ but tigers took precedence, so we thanked him and said ‘Jeep.’

Before dinner, we placed our valuables, phones and camera in the room safe. I punched in our usual code and watched my finger make a mistake. I decided to open it immediately and start again, only I failed to open it – with all three permitted attempts.

We went for dinner; at lunch we had drunk water from copper cups tasting strongly of…well…copper and expected the same now, but a French couple on a nearby table had beer. Had they bought it here or had the foresight to bring it in from outside? I inquired in my fluent stumbling French. They directed me to the man who had provided their beer, and I requested two bottles. Drinking is forbidden for Muslims and discouraged among Hindus; whichever he was, he gave me the look of a man who would never put a thief in his mouth to steal his brains, before nodding reluctantly.

After longish wait a different man arrived with a single bottle. I reminded him I had ordered two. ‘One bottle per person’ he replied tersely. I might have moaned about silly rules, but my mind was too busy boggling at his inability to see two people at our table. Lynne often complains of sometimes feeling invisible in India. Indian ladies, of course, do not drink, and if they do, never in public, but louche westerners…. He reluctantly fetched a second bottle - shame they were both Budweiser.

Our brains remained unstollen and one of them suddenly realised we were going out at dawn tomorrow so the safe must be unlocked tonight, or we could not photograph our tiger – if, miraculously, we saw one.

After dinner I went to reception, explained the problem and the receptionist promised to send someone to solve it. A little later a man arrived at our bungalow carrying a broom, suggesting the receptionist and I had communicated less well than I had believed.

Faced with the safe and my inability to open it, Broom Man grasped the problem. He could not solve it, but he knew a man who could and phoned him immediately. His colleague was reluctant to reveal the secret, but even more reluctant to come out and solve it himself. Eventually he agreed to talk me through the process, and, to my relief, the safe sprang open. I promised him I would immediately forget his instructions and was as good as my word.

02-Mar-2024

Safari (2)

We were up and out at dawn and driving round the forest before the sun had got its act together.

Spotted deer at dawn, Nagarhole tiger reserve

I will spare you yet more photos of the usual suspects, but little else happened for the next hour or so…

Tiger?

Around 7.45 our driver had a radio message from one of his colleagues and suddenly our wanderings became more purposeful. After a short, swift (by National Park Standards) drive we parked up behind several other jeeps and a thirty-seater bus. Somewhere to our right a langur was barking a warning, and all eyes were fixed on the treeline.

We stared at the stationary trees and bushes, trying in vain to turn them into the moving stripes of a tiger.

Nothing to see here

I do not know how long we did this. It was not a new experience, in the past we have often given up after 20 minutes as the tiger, if it had ever been there, must have walked off in the wrong direction.

There was still no tiger, but there was, this time, a feeling of optimism I had not experienced before. It probably emanated from the drive and was shared, I imagine, by the other people in our jeep. Very likely the people in the bus and in other jeeps felt it, too.

Tiger!

And then there was a sound, and aah or maybe a murmur, something was happening, but I still could not see anything but trees, and then suddenly I could, already closer than I had expected…

Tiger, Nagarhole Tiger Reserve

…an adult female tiger was walking, with leisurely grace and latent power, not quite towards us, but certainly in our general direction.

She crossed the road in front of the bus, and strolled away on the other side, pausing once to turn and roll her eyes at all the humans sitting there in their noisy, smelly vehicles. Maybe she did not really roll her eyes, maybe I made that up.

Tiger is going now, Nagarhole Tiger Reserve

After a tiger, there is only anticlimax. Even termites lose their shine.

Termite accommodation, Nagarhole tiger reserve

We continued safari-ing until after 9.30, because that was the deal, but there was little to see, and I was beginning to want my breakfast.

And in due course that was what I got, a combination of spice, protein, carbohydrate and more spice. My favourites.

Breakfast at Nagarhole

And Finally...

At the fifth attempt, seventh if you include the lake safaris, we had seen our tiger. I was prepared for a beast that would be graceful and powerful, but I had never expected her to be so big - and males are even bigger. Job done, and I am glad we did it properly

Tiger

We then left Nagarhole and headed north into the next post….

Kerala and More

Part 1: Cooking the Kerala Way
Part 2: Kochi: Not Really a Free Day
Part 3: Kozhikode (Formerly Calicut)
Part 4: Nagarhole - Yet Another Attempt to see a Tiger

and much more to come

Tibetan Buddhism: Buddhist Temples, Monasteries and Buddha Images Part 3

Tibetan Buddhism - not Just in Tibet

The Tibetan Tradition

Buddhism probably arrived in Tibet from India in the 8th century. That makes it part of the Mahayana tradition, but as it includes many tantric practices and elements of Vajrayana, it is often treated as a separate branch of Buddhism.

Tibetan Wheel

I offer the above paragraph in good faith; I believe it to be accurate but I admit to not understanding some of the words. I have, though, observed that in Tibetan Buddhism, as in Mahayana, Buddha images often come in threes, Bodhisattva Maitreya (the Future Buddha), the Buddha, and Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara (The Compassion Buddha). Bodhisattvas are important, as are fearsome images of guardians, but there seems less emphasis on Arhats. Like Theravada, Tibetan Buddhism has a strong monastic tradition. Only Tibetan Buddhists use prayer wheels, praying by rotating a wheel about a sacred text, and prayer flags where sacred texts blow in the wind.

Although Tibetan Buddhism has several independent branches, each having its own monasteries and leaders, they remain closely related. The Gelug (Yellow Hat) is the dominant school - not just in Tibet - and the most influential Gelugpa is the Dalai Lama.

Tibetan Monasteries

Tibetan Buddhism is not confined to Tibet, the map above shows the monasteries/temples covered in this post, though there will also be a surprise visit to Beijing. But I will start in the obvious place. We visited Lhasa in July/Aug 2005.

Tibet (officially the Xizang Autonomous Region, China)

Lhasa

Lhasa is an interesting city to visit. At 3,700m (12,000ft) most people suffer some effect of altitude; breathlessness, aching joints, sleep disruption or even a brief collapse. In midsummer the air is pleasantly warm though air-conditioning is not required.

Officially encouraged Han migration has resulted in half the 500,000 population being non-Tibetan. I deplore the destructive Chinese policy of squeezing the culture of ethnic minorities, though from an entirely selfish point of view, the Han presence - and the existence of a Nepali community - allowed us to eat well. Tibetans' own food never quite escapes the distinctive rancid flavour of yak butter.

The Jokhang Temple

The Jokhang Temple is the physical and spiritual centre of Lhasa. In summer the modest frontage on Barkhor Square was permanently semi-blocked by prostrating pilgrims. The interior was dark and the air dense with the smell of wood smoke and burning yak butter candles as devotees jostled to make their offerings.

Entrance to the Jokhang Temple, Lhasa

We escaped to the roof.

Lynne on the roof of the Jokhang Temple, Lhasa

The Potala Palace

From the Jokhang roof we looked across the Square to the dramatically sited Potala Palace the home of the Dalai Lama – though he has lived in exile since 1959.

The Potala Palace from the roof of the Jokhang Temple, Lhasa

Once you have acquired a ticket and turned many prayer wheels…

There are many prayer wheels to turn in Lhasa

…you have the freedom of the palace complex.

Inside the Potala Palace complex, Lhasa

The Drepung Monastery

Five kilometres outside Lhasa, Drepung is the largest monastery in Tibet. At its peak there were as many as ten thousand monks. There are now less than a thousand, and with tight Chinese control the monastery lacks the moral authority it once had, but when we visited in 2005 it seemed a thriving community.

Just Part of the Drepung Monastery Complex

It is a large complex on many levels on the side of Mount Gephel. Climbing from courtyard to courtyard up steps that were often more ladders than staircases was hard work. It was our second full day in Lhasa and the thin air took its toll. Lynne leaned against a wall to get her breath and then slowly slipped down to a seated position. Leaving her in the ticket office in the care of some solicitous and friendly monks....

Solicitous and friendly monks

...I continued alone.

Drepung Monastry

Sadly, she missed the hall full of monks chanting sutras.....

Chanting monks, Drepung Monastery

....the monk's prayer hall near the top of the complex...

Prayer Hall, Drepung Monastery

....and this view of a lone monk standing on a roof, surveying the world. A true son of Tibet, he stands behind the gold encased finials waiting for his kettle to boil.

Waiting for his kettle to boil, Drepung Monastery

As committed tea drinkers the Tibetans make the British look like amateurs. What I cannot understand, though, is why, once they have made a nice pot of tea they always stir in a dollop of yak butter. The advantage of yak butter is that never goes off, the disadvantage is that tastes like it has even when fresh.

Sera Monastery

At Sera monastery back in the city, the younger monks gather in a stony square two or three afternoons a week. The more senior monks test their juniors on points of Buddhist philosophy asking question in an aggressive if stylised manner.

Debating at Sera Monastery, Lhasa

I have heard that important as this once was, it is now just for tourists. Perhaps, but they entered into it with vigour and thought – and occasionally a little humour.

Mongolia

North from the Tibetan Plateau, across several hundred kilometres of dessert are the huge open grasslands of Mongolia, the least densely populated country in the world.

Buddhism was introduced to the nomadic empires of Mongolia in the 1st century CE though in time it faded into Shamanism.

In the early 13th century Genghis Khan united Mongolia and went on to rule the largest contiguous empire ever seen. It fragmented after his death, but his grandson Kublai Khan started out as ruler of most of Mongolia and northern China. By 1271 he had unified China and established the Yuan Dynasty. He introduced Tibetan Buddhism and monasticism into Mongolia, but after the demise of his dynasty in 1368, Mongolia again slowly relapsed into shamanism.

During the 16th Mongolian cultural revival Altan Khan, a warlord with an eye to reunifying the country made an ally of the Dalai Lama. Tibetan Buddhism returned to Mongolia and was reinforced by the Chinese Qing dynasty in the next couple of centuries.

Ulaanbaatar

In 2007 selecting the southern option of the Trans-Siberian Railway took us to Ulaanbaatar. Mongolians traditionally moved with the seasons, and Ulaanbaatar only settled on its present site in 1789. It is now home to 1.3 million, more than half the vast country’s population

Gandan Monastery

The first buildings of Ulaanbaatar’s Gandan Monastery were constructed in 1809. Buildings have come and gone, but the most impressive, the temple of Boddhisattva Avalokiteshvara was built in 1913.

Temple of the Boddhisattva Avalokiteshvara, Gandan Monastery

Gandan closed in 1938 as Mongolia's client government obediently followed Stalin’s anti-religious line. After the Second World War Stalin decided to make token acknowledgment of traditional cultures and religions across the USSR. The Mongolian government followed suit, reopening Gandan in 1948, though with many restrictions. Since the end of communism in 1990 all restrictions have been lifted, and there has been a resurgence of Buddhism.

(see Ulaanbaatar: Part 11 of the Trans-Siberian Railway)

Bürd Sum

Leaving Ulaanbaatar with a driver and local guide we drove 340 km to the Bürd Sum (district) of Övörkhangai Aimag (province) where we stayed with a local family. The first 50 km of the journey were on tarmac, the rest over open steppe. Övörkhangai is three times the size of Wales but the whole population would almost fit into the Principality Stadium.

(see Across the Mongolian Steppe: Part 9 of the Trans-Siberian Railway)

Shaman Shrine

Next day we visited Erdene Zuu. More driving across grassland brought us to a proper road. At the road junction was a shrine. Mongolian Buddhism has absorbed shamanism, and this is essentially a shaman shrine. We did the proper thing, which is to walk round it three times clockwise and placed a new stone on the top. Most passers-by contented themselves with a hoot on the horn.

A shaman shrine, Ovorkhangai Province

Kharkhorin, Övörkhangai Province

Ghengis Khan built his capital of Karakorum on the site of modern Kharkhorin in around 1220. Not being the settling down sort of guy, Ghengis soon moved on, though the city thrived for a while before being destroyed by a Ming army in 1388. Modern Kharkhorin is a major population centre, by Mongolian standards, with 13,000 inhabitants.

Erdene Zuu

The monastery of Erdene Zuu was built in 1585, using such remnants of Karakorum as were available. The boundary of the rectangular site is marked by 100 small stupas. 108 is the number of attributes of the Buddha, so either 8 stupas have been lost or somebody miscounted during the building process.

Erdene Zuu

The modern city of Kharkhorin sits under the black smoke in the distance - a rare example of Mongolian industry.

Stupas, Erdene Zuu

By the end of the 19th century there were over 60 temples on the site, but in 1939 most were destroyed by the communists.

Surviving Temple, Erdene Zuu

All the surviving temples are open to visitors.

Inside a temple, Erdene Zuu

In 1990 the site was handed back to the monks and Erdene Zuu became an active monastery again.

Monk taking a prayer wheel for a walk, Erdene Zuu

(see With the Mongolian Nomads: Part 10 of the Trans-Siberian Railway)

Buryat Republic, Russia

Our previous stop on the Trans-Siberian had been at Ulan Ude, the capital of Buryatia, one of the constituent republics of the Russian Federation. Buryats are ethnic Mongolians, and so Buddhists, but Buryatia has been Russian since the seventeenth century. Then, Inner and Outer Mongolia struggled under imperial Chinese rule while the Buryats traded with the incoming Russians and enjoyed comparative freedom and prosperity.

Ivolginsk Datsan

Before the Russian Revolution, there were hundreds of Datsans in Buryatia and thousands of monks, but by the 1930’s the Datsans had all been closed and the monks dispatched to the Gulags. In the 1940s Stalin decided it was time for more religious tolerance and so a Datsan was constructed at Ivolginsk, 30 km west of Ulan Ude. It opened in 1947 on a site carefully chosen by astrologers.

Ivolginsk Datsun, near Ulan Ude

The architecture and decoration of the Johkang Temple, Potala Palace and Drepung Monastery in Lhasa are almost identical. Gandan and Erdene Zuu are cut from similar cloth, but the main building at Ivolginsk, 3,000 km north of Lhasa, looks, unsurprisingly, less Tibetan and ever so slightly Russian.

The Temple at the Ivolginsk Datsun, near Ulan Ude

…but from some angles the Tibetan look predominates.

Tibetan style stupas, Ivolginsk, near Ulan Ude

Andre, our Christian European Russian guide was here when the Dalai Lama visited this outpost of his flock in the 1980s. He was very taken by his serenity and almost tangible charisma.

Prayer wheels, Ivolginsk Datsun, near Ulan Ude with Tibetan script (her right) and Mongolian script

(see Ulan Ude (1) Buddhists, Old Believers and an Enormous Head of Lenin: Part 6 of the Trans-Siberian Railway

China

Or, more accurately, China again as Tibet is part of China. Chinese Buddhism follows the Mahayana tradition, but that does not mean there are no ‘Tibetan pockets.’

Beijing

The Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 over his disagreement with the Chinese authorities. He is a man of integrity and peace from whom the Chinese could learn much, but instead they regard him rather like the Americans regarded Osama bin-Ladin. It was not always that way.

Stupa, Beihai Park

Beihai Park, just north of Beijing’s centre was allegedly created by Kublai Khan. The stupa on the artificial island was built to commemorate the visit of a 17th century Dalai Lama to Beijing.

Stupa on the artificial island, Beihai Park, Beijing

(see Beijing (2): Xicheng and Beihai Park. Part 2 of Beijing, North Korea and Shanxi)

Yonghe Gong

The Yonghe Gong was our first ever Buddhist temple on out first ever visit to Beijing. It is a rare example of a Tibetan Temple in the Han heartland, though I doubt we realised that at the time.

It was built in 1649, as a residence for court eunuchs. It then became the palace of Prince Yong, who turned part of the complex into a lamasery when he became emperor in 1722. On his death in 1733 Tibetan Buddhists were invited to take over the whole site. Developments since then have produced buildings which mix Tibetan and Chinese styles.

Lynne at the Yonghe Gong

The temple complex survived the Cultural Revolution and re-opened to the public in 1981. One of the charms of the place is that after so many years of religious repression many would-be devotees do not seem sure of what they should be doing.

Uncertain worshippers, Yonghe Gong

The temple contains a remarkable 18m high statue of the Buddha carved from a single piece of sandalwood.

Maitreya Buddha carved from a single piece of sandalwood, Yonge Gong, Beijing

India

Buddhism has all but died out in the country of its birth, but it is still possible to see dramatic Buddhist temples

Kushalnagar, Karnataka

The Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile live in Dharamsala in the extreme north of India. We have not been there, but in 2010 we visited the small town of Kushalnagar in the southern state of Karnataka - as far south of Lhasa as Ulan Bator is north - where the state government has settled 10,000 exiled Tibetans.

Namdroling Monastery

As well as the usual secular requirements of any settlement, there are two Gelugpa monasteries and the much larger Namdroling Temple which follows the Nyingmapa tradition from Eastern Tibet.

Namdroling Monastery, Kushalnagar, Karnatica

As can be seen both from the outside and the interior, Namdroling is well financed. It is known as ‘The Golden Temple’- and with good reason.

Interior of Namdroling - The Golden Temple, Kushalnagar

The temple looks typically Tibetan and even displays a trio of Buddhas - as promised in the introduction. July in Lhasa had been pleasantly warm but air-conditioning was unnecessary, people merely left doors and windows open and allowed in the fresh, if rather thin, air. At other times of the year it can be viciously cold. February in Kushalnagar was hot and humid (it is equally hot, though far wetter in the monsoon season) and the vegetation around the temple could not have been less Tibetan. Namdroling looked like an exotic transplant from a faraway land.

Namdroling, The Golden Temple, Kushalnagar

Buddhist Temples, Monasteries and Buddha Images

Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: Mahayana Buddhism
Part 3: Tibetan Buddhism
Part 4: Theravada (1) Sri Lanka
Part 5: Theravada (2) Myanmar
Part 6: Theravada (3) Laos, Cambodia & Thailand