Explore India, 2008: Bylakuppe 13th, December 2551 (2008)

Bylacuppe at Karnataka state is the largest setllement of Tibetans in India.
The Indian Government donate about 1200 hectares to the tibetan refugees to built their temples and villages.

Gisela and I took a bus from Mysore and have a four hours and a half bus ride and then an auto rickshaw to Bylacuppe to see the Golden Temple, to see the Serra Monastery. It is an amazing settlement and very prosperous. As you will see from the photos the Tibetans are building some ornate and fantastic temples.

In this frame three religions are excisting: Hindu, Muslim and Tibetan!

The statue of Lord Buddha is 60 ft. in height where as the height of other two statues of Guru Padmasambhava and Buddha Amitayus are 58 ft. they are made of copper, plated with gold. Inside the statues are scriptures, relics of great beings, small clay mould stupas and small statues, which symbolize the body, speech and mind of the Buddhas.
Seeing these statues, venerating them, circumambulating and making offerings to them generates faith, peace, wisdom, loving kindness and compassion in our minds and cleanses unwholesome thoughts and actions.

After many years of serious practice, he attained enligthtenment under the Bodhi Tree in Bodh Gaya and became a Buddha (the one who knows). For more than forty years, he turned three great wheels of Dharma in order to deliver beings from the mire of suffering and help them attain their full potential, supreme enlightenment, the varieties of teachings that Lord Buddha gave to suit the different mentalities of beings can be simply condensed into the profound view of interdependence of all phenomena and the conduct of non-violence (Ahimsa).
The middle way approach of Buddhist teachings have inspired millions in the past and are still continuing to do so even to this day.

At young age of 25, leaving aside the luxuries of the palace prince Siddhartha (his childhood name) set out to search for an evelasting solution to end the cycle of birth and death that has tormented all beings from time immemorial.

Who was born to king Shudodhana and queen Mayadevi, at Lumbini (present day Nepal), 2500 years ago. Of the 1002 Buddhas who will come to this world during this fortunate eon, he is concidered the Fourth. The Bhunisparsa Mudra (earth touching mudra) literally represents the Buddha as taking the earth as witness. It represents the moment when Buddha took the earth as testimony when he had resolved the problem of cessation of suffering while he was under the peepal tree at Buddha-Gaya (this is one of my favorites mudras).