Gyantsé (english)

Gyantse is a prosper little town because of its position on the trade route , the caravans going from Sikkim and from Nepal to Lhasa are passing there . Destroyed by a fire it has been rebuilt in 54 so the town is still more Tibetan than Chinese . The temple used to be a lot bigger but now is not even half the size of the Sigatsé . The Pelkor Temple was built as well in 1418 by and for a federation of 16 different monastic colleges from 3 different schools ( gueluppa, skyapa and zalupa) and we still can sense this exceptional tolerance in the old walls which could survive centuries and even the cultural revolution . Full of sacred treasures it is the monastery which touched Olga and myself the most . It was still alive. In the protector’s room we could even chat with the monk who exceptionally was speaking good english and he could explain more than I can remember .The assembly hall was still impregnated of the daily presence early in the morning of the young students who come there to study and pray . The blankets and hats neatly folded on their wooden bench . We saw as well the room of the 3 Buddhas past , present and future guarded by 8 Bodhisattvas , 4 m high, 4 feminine and 4 masculine impressive statues .And the room built for the founder’s mother where many scriptures written by hand by the monks in black and gold ink are kept well wrapped in precious material on high shelves . The pilgrims who can’t read pass under them and like that the scripture’s wisdom can fall on their back and they can get impregnated by it ! While I was thee some mother bent and bent to pass under the rail with a baby on her back . We stayed almost 3 hours and it could have been more .In the kumbum the 1000 faces of the Buddha stupa , where you have 108 doors just as the rosary would have 108 beads , you could visit 77 different chapels in order to study and understand the entire tantric path . Still even there we saw many more soldiers than monks . Even so they may still be 60! The pilgrims prefer to look far ahead !