We started where we left it last week. We, actually planned for a two day trip with a day stay there in Kiama or Wollongong. But I got too confused that nothing really happened on Saturday J !
The same train on Sunday, and reached Wollongong around the same time, seeing the same views! Isn’t it boring? But this time, we had a better flask; we planned our lunch to be taken at the Buddhist temple. Nowhere could we find where to get a bus or timings, for the temple! Anyway, we walked to the closest bus stop and checked the timetable. It had an entry for the place where the temple is situated. We had no clue of the next bus, it said after an hour!
But sometimes, timetables go wrong for good! A bus turned up in 10 minutes! It was costly, far costly compared to the train fare and Sydney city buses. For a 15 minute ride, we were charged A$4 per head! The only good thing was, the driver was asking us whether we have to get down at the temple, straightaway, while issuing the ticket. The bus went out of the town area, was moving parallel to the rail and crossed a level cross( with no gate man), climbed a hill and dropped us in an isolated place where we could see a Chinese building inside the gate far away hidden in woods.
The time was around 2pm. The driver told us that there will be only one bus to go back now, around 5:40pm. The temple was built up around a compound of some acres, landscaped with trees, pond (we saw some lotus leaves, but no lotus), some ducks in them. The temple architecture was typical Chinese with the curves and all. I still wonder whether it was Chinese, as the whole premises including the Shrine was crystal clean and very well maintained.
We saw the boards saying No meat, No alcohol, no smoking, no pets, etc. in the premises. We tried the small restaurant like below, which was obviously fully vegetarian. I ordered for a vegetarian mince with noodles, and Krithi tried some Veggie nuggets. The dishes arrived, made of mushrooms in different shapes and colours – mostly look like meat ! I confirmed with them twice or thrice and the monk was smiling and telling that it is all mushroom no meat J !
Krithi couldn’t get on with it (She had to depend on the sandwiches we brought with us for lunch). So I had to eat them both! It was tasty, with a difference.
We slowly climbed the steps to the shrine. It was a Buddha with 12 hands (or more?) all having weapons of different kind ! I think, I have missed out something here! Else how can I see a God, who is the teacher of Ahmisa, standing packed with all sorts of weapons like a God of destruction! The prayer hall was silent. There was a stand on the corner selling some beautiful candles covered with glass, and some incense sticks, again for offering. The prayer style suggested was standing on the knees! More like the idol is similar to a Hindu God and the rest (candles, praying on knee) similar to Christianity!
We climbed the steps through the sides to the main shrine. It was bigger than I thought; the infrastructure around the main shrine included a Student room, a painting gallery, a dining hall, and a souvenir shop. The shrine consisted of 5 huge Buddhas sitting in colourful attire, each representing a direction (the 5th Buddha for the middle direction). The main shrine built in a Chinese style resembled the palace structure in ‘The Last Emperor’ from outside. Inside, the walls were gloriously filled up with small Buddhas in 1 foot squares, lighted with a neon lamp, uniquely named and covered in glass! Sounded very much taken from Hinduism, chants thousand names for God! The floor was having some cushions for seats where you can kneel down and pray. In front of the five Buddhas covered in glass, plenty of candles been lighted by the worshippers. There were prayers written in English and Chinese, for different purposes (money, prosperity and what not). Easy way of praying, isn’t it? Decide what all you want, and then, take the respective notes and read it silentlyJ !
We spent exploring the premises, for an hour more and came out by 4:50. We had more than half an hour for the bus. Just gave a try to walk down the hill, to the nearest rail station. The roads are empty with a few cars passing by.
We walked for some 40 minutes to reach the station, Unanderra. Now, we had to wait for an hour in that small, lonely station. The station is empty, not even a station master, except an young guy with his girl friend who got disturbed with our presence. The machine gives the ticket, and there is no need for anyone to be in the station! By the time train came, there were some more people started coming – a drunkard gang of teenagers, and a couple of girls. Though the gang was talking to each other using all swear words, it was within them. As far as we are not too bothered about it, can just stand away as nothing is happening; none is going to bully you.
The train was empty again, dropped us back at Central by around 8. One more weekend gone with a bit of redundancy with the travel, but there was this unique experience of a Chinese temple. Mind is filled with a lot of questions: Buddha had been customised for marketing? Or is it something in Buddhism we never have heard?
I also overheard one of the monks explaining to the tourist saying, ‘We are also like you. We also believe that a Buddha will take birth (I am not sure what he meant by ‘you’. Christianity is heard to have this basic difference between Christians and Jews that Christians have Jesus as God, and Jews are still waiting for Jesus. So for both of them, The Bible is the religious text)’. That seems to be something sounds like ‘Heenayana’. I know that Mahayana worships Gautam Buddha as their God (and those are the only two partitions in Buddhism).
Please revert if you have any idea about this, or if you feel I am wrong about anything.
Tailpiece:- About my query on Australia as a colony, one of my friends replied that Canada is also similar. Though it was freed from English colonialism, still they maintain Queen, for their coins, holidays, and heard they even pay taxes to the Queen! So, ‘Mera Bharat Mahan’, we have left it long long ago !
Information :- About Nan-Tien Temple : Opened in 1995, the Temple is the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. Wollongong was chosen as the site for the Temple because of the ideal location of Mt Keira and Mt Kembla in relation to the site. The name 'Wollongong' also has significance in the way that it is a tribute to a Chinese man of great intelligence named Wollong. The translation of Nan Tien is ‘Paradise of the Southern Hemisphere’.
No comments:
Post a Comment