Tibetan Tours

The Tibetan Government-in-Exile and His Holiness the Dalai Lama are both located in Dharamsala. This past week I visited the government offices, the main Temple (where
His Holiness lives) and enjoyed some Tibetan food.
First I met with Tyseng, who is Tsering's nephew (Tsering is my co-worker in Toronto) and I brought along another volunteer Katherine who is here studying Tibetan culture. Tyseng took us on a private tour of the Tibetan Museum and Archives and showed us around the complex. He did a great job of enlightening us on Tibetan history. We saw artifacts that are over 500 years old and that had been secretly taken out of Tibet during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Some items, like scriptures, were partly burned and damaged. Alot of items- statues of Buddhas, Deities, Goddesses etc were in great shape. Tyseng also took us to the Tibetan Archives where we saw old books all cataloged and wrapped in colourful cloth.

After our morning tour, Katherine and I went for Tibetan food. I had freshly made Momos- something I have had at work with the Tibetan women (and thoroughly enjoyed!)thus was pleased to have them again here.

In the afternoon we toured the main temple. Once we were in (and navigated past some cows) we saw 50-70 Tibetan monks sitting on mats meditating and visiting. We went right into the inner part of the temple and saw beautiful, ornate statues and tapestries used for Buddhism. There were also an number of offerings - everything from cash to cookies. The inner part was smaller and quiet; we had to remove our shoes and could not take pictures. The outer part, where the monks were sitting, had more activity, people were wandering around talking and using the prayer wheels.
If you like to see more pictures, check out my FaceBook album.

A few days later CCS arranged a talk on Tibetan issues which was given by the Secretary of the Department of Information and International Relation of Tibetan Government in Exile. Again, this speaker reviewed the history of Tibet and the current issues facing the Tibetan people- both living in Tibet and in exile. I found it informative, unbiased and interesting. I really feel that I have a better understanding of Tibet and I am looking forward to absorbing more of their culture while I am here.