Ringha
Temple (Da Bao Si) - Shangri La |
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According
to the legend, a venerable Buddhist monk has
taken the way to Tibet to carry out a pilgrimage
with his goat in the countryside. After 3
years of the whole trip, they stayed in the
valley of Ringha where the goat refused to
continue the way any further more. The monk
then counts that it had found there as a sacred
place, and decided to build a temple right
there on the hill in the middle of this marvelous
valley. |
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Except
this legend, the origin of the Ringha temple
(also named as " Temple of the 5 Wisdom
Buddhas ") still remain the mysterious,
it keeps an essential place in the Tibetan
community that they consider there as the
one of the five most important Tibetan monasteries
among Yunnan. |
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Date
back for at least 700 years; the temple was
visited by the 5th Dalai Lama. While the principal
buildings were destroyed during the Cultural
Revolution (1966-1976), the villagers raised
the funds to rebuild the principal lobby,
with a simple and modest structure. Unfortunately,
there are only 3 small original statues in
the temple nowadays. |
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Several
religious practices are associated with the
Ringha Temple. The worshipers come here to
pray to obtain a good health, heal the diseases
and bless for their children. To accumulate
a good karma, chickens and the other animals
are taken and left in liberty. After that,
the worshipers do the kora in clockwise around
the hill and pray for their greetings. |
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There
are thousands of Tibetan prayers’ flags
floats in the wind around the monastery. It
blows in continues on the prayers and inscribed
mantras on the flags in offering to the gods,
perpetuating the please by putting these flags
on the hill. |
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While
descending, you will go through a trimmed
stairway of prayer wheel, with the inscriptions
of the mantra “Om Mani Padme Hung”
on every cylinder, invoking the attention
and the blessings of Chenresig, the incarnation
of compassion. The Tibetan think that every
rotation of the prayer wheel tells to places
them the mantra that there is inscribed. While
turning these flags and wheels, the faithful
ones accumulate merit, replace their negative
actions by positive actions, and improve their
karma for their next life. |
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The
access carries out itself by car from Shangri
La (40-50 minutes). A Jeep is necessary to
rejoin the Ringha Temple because the road
is in poor condition; it becomes slippery
when it rains. From Shangri La, it is also
possible to access there by bicycle. This
is a beautiful trip by going through several
Tibetan towns in which you will be able to
stop anywhere you want and to revitalize with
a good cup of Yak butter tea! |
