| |
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. |
| |
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. |
| |
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. |
| |
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. |
| |
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. |
| |
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. |
| |
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! |
