Day 189: Lhasa – Day 1: Sera Monastery
Unfortunately, the effects of Golden Week were able to strike us, even in Tibet. Our vouchers for the Potala Palace were bumped for today, and we had to reschedule for tomorrow. Sadly, that left us with a big gaping hole in our itinerary for the day, as we weren’t planning to visit the Sera Monastery until the afternoon, when the monks perform their daily debate. We tried to make the best of it – taking a solo walk around the Potala Palace in the morning, so that we could move on as quickly as possible tomorrow.
The Sera Monastery is a complex of several Buddhist colleges, just outside Lhasa. While it was originally built in the 1400’s and once housed over 5,000 monks, it greatly suffered during the Cultural Revolution – hundreds of monks were killed and many buildings, scriptures and artifacts were destroyed (all this information, of course, was not presented at the monastery nor by our guide). However, there is an effort to rebuild many of the buildings and murals. Also, the lively debates – for which this monastery had always been famous – still continue 6 days a week from 3PM – 5PM (although our guide suggested that these debates are more for show for the tourists, than serious debates on scripture).
Visiting the Sera Monastery, outside Lhasa
Watching the daily public debates, at the Sera Monastery
The debating monks are split into pairs – a defender (sitting) and a questioner (standing). The debates are incredibly lively, as there are many ritual hand gestures that accompany the back and forth exchange. As we don’t speak Tibetan, we couldn’t grasp all the complexities, but it’s pretty easy to see that every time the questioner asks a question, he slaps his left hand with his right (as if shooting the question out of his arm!). Our guide also told us that when the defender answers a question *really poorly* the questioner will circle the defender’s head three times, as a sign of humiliation! All the while, a teacher is walking around the pairs of monks, listening in and essentially “grading” them on their debating skills.
One of three gorgeous mandelas, crafted by hand out of colored sand.
These intricate pieces of art take several weeks to make. After about a year, they are destroyed – symbolizing the transitory nature of life itself.
As we enter one of the assembly halls, we see a painter working on one of the new frescos
After visiting the Sera Monastery, we returned to our hotel in the Lhasa city center. We made plans to meet our guide at 8AM sharp, so that we could be one of the first groups to enter the Potala Palace tomorrow morning. We also got a great recommendation for Indian food dinner – loving the food in Tibet!
No wait, and all our food was served at the same time?! Lhasa Kitchen beats Snowland Restaurant by a landslide!
Lhasa at night – walking back to our hotel with bellies full of naan – yum!