Sakya Monastery Shines On (3)

11:05, February 19, 2009  

Sakya today

After the repair work took place in 2002, an increasing number of visitors and pilgrims made the journey to Sakya to marvel at its resurrection.

Toinzhub, 65, visits Sakya Monastery whenever he feels like to talk to Buddha. "Although the monastery is smaller than it used to be when I was a kid, it looks more beautiful and sacred than before," he said. Pointing to the murals, he said he could hardly imagine the faded colors could return to their original glow. Toinzhub said now it is more convenient to travel to the Monastery as the road is better.

File photo shows part of the splendid interior of the Sakya Monastery after repair. (Xinhua File Photo)

The 21-year-old girl Yexei was circumambulating the monastery carrying her niece on her back. She told Beijing Review that she was taken to the monastery when she was born, and since visited the holy place at least once a year. During this visit, she prayed for the health of her parents and safety of all her family. "At present, I can pray at more places than I used to. We were all excited to hear about the repair work in 2002 and witness the changes each year," Yexei said.

Palden Donyus, Abbot of Sakya Monastery, confirmed that in peak periods, an average of more than 10,000 people visited Sakya Monastery in a single day.

"More tourists from Taiwan, Hong Kong and foreign countries are coming to visit the Monastery," he said.

The abbot also said that about 10 years ago when he was studying in Beijing, there were few people who believed in Tibetan Buddhism. On his return five years later he was surprised to find many people with some knowledge of Tibetan Buddhism.

"Some people even walked up to me in the street and asked questions about our religion seeing I was wearing robes," he said.

He thinks that in metropolises like Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing, people have less economic concerns and more time to follow spiritual pursuits. Tibetan Buddhism is a perfect match for their desire to find inner peace and learn about love and compassion, he said.

As the "Three Cultural Relics" repair work was coming to a close, the Central Government decided in April 2008 to invest another 570 million yuan (83 million U.S. dollars) in its 11th Five-Year Plan Period (2006-10) to restore and repair another 22 cultural relics in Tibet. Up till now, over 1,400 monasteries, cultural relics, and religious activity sites have been restored and opened to the public. Since 1978, the total amount of money the government put into the protection and repair of cultural relics in Tibet will hit 1.2 billion yuan (175 million U.S. dollars) in 2010.

Source: Beijing Weekly
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