LAMA TEMPLE

Today I went with some friends from church to the Lama Temple.  The official name is actually "Palace of Peace and Harmony Lama Temple."  I'm all for peace and harmony so right on Lama Temple!  The Lama Templ was constructed in the late 1600's and initally used as a monestary, then converted to a residence for the emporer and then later converted again to serve as a monestary for Tibetan monks. It is one of the largest Buddihst Temples in the world.  It houses some very, very large Buddihst statues and artwork.  One of the pieces of art that I loved was a fabric mosaic of a Buddah.  I couldn't determine what year it was made but it was beautiful and the image was made out of fabric pieces that were cut and folded to create the piece.  The Temple is home to the Maidala Buddah which is one of the largest Buddhist statues in the world. It is 26 meters high, with the lowest 8 meters buried in the ground.  I heard that this was done to prevent others from taking it but I don't know who would be able to move something that big anyway without being noticed. The statue is carved entirely out of wood and painted in gold. There was a great deal of colorful artwork and we saw a gallery of smaller Buddah statues and treasures given to the monestary over the last several hundred years.  I didn't burn any incense or pray to any of the Buddahs but I did spin the prayer wheel.  Buddhist prayer wheels come in various sizes and I've even seen some in taxi cabs and cars.  They are usually constructed of bronze or some other metal with prayer incriptions carved on them. When you spin the wheel it is as if the prayer is being read.  The Lama Temple is a working monestary but I didn't see any of the monks while I was there.  Maybe it was their day off??? :)