The Five-Pagoda Temple

We visited the Five-Pagoda Temple this morning, near Da Zhao Lamasery and ever so much better. Da Zhao is big and impressive but filled with touristy shops and big tour groups. Five-Pagoda, on the other hand, is small, quiet, and unbelievably beautiful. The Five-Pagoda part is all that is left of the Cideng Lamasery dating back to the mid-1500s. It isn’t too big in itself, but it is covered in small tiles, each with a carving of Buddha. No two Buddhas are alike. Between the levels of tiles you can see script in Mongolian, Tibetan, and Sanskrit, as well as reliefs of animals, people, and vegetation. On a wall behind the Five-Pagoda Temple are three circular carvings, the most important of which, (but not very well-known, since it is tucked behind) is a cosmological map. I won’t post a picture of it, as it is behind glass and it just doesn’t come out well. We know a Hungarian student here, Oliver, who is studying Mongolian and gathering material to write a book on the Five-Pagoda Temple, with particular emphasis on the cosmological map. Apparently no one knows what all that writing on the pagodas means, but he is determined to work it out.

I will let the pictures just speak for themselves. Dave took a video of five monks chanting but it takes a lot of space to put it in here so I'll just have to show any who are interested when we get back home. It's really an amazing sound.

The Five-Pagoda Temple

Looking at the animals. The cosmological map is just behind us.

The little tiles are part of the "10,000" Buddhas adorning the Five-Pagoda Temple.

Notice the food offerings--all of the statues have food and water placed before them.

This lucky bodhisattva (Guan Yin) gets Washington Red Delicious apples!

p.s. I still don’t have email access. A friend in Shanghai was able to access the two sites we’re most interested in, so I guess the problem is with Inner Mongolia. Hopefully it will resolve itself soon.