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Right by the Holy Sepulchre stands the Ethiopian Monastery. We spent a moment there, chatting a bit with one of the priests. He was obviously Ethiopian and was really excited about Sab knowing a bit of Habesha and us having been to places like Lalibela, a.k.a the African Jerusalem. He looked a bit bitter and moved when he told us that the Ethiopians once used to be a big community among Christians in Jerusalem and now everything had been taken by the Copts and the Greeks. He sounded really sad about it. When I was in Israel and Palestine, I always felt like it was just the Jews and Muslims fighting with the Christians peacefully watching kind of saddly or bored the scenes of this failed cohabitation. But actually, Christians are just as dumb as it took decades to succeed to renovate the Sepulchre as nobody wanted to pay for the others, or feel like they were getting ripped off by the other Churches. How stupid religion makes people...
Amarbayasgalant Monastery is one of the three largest Buddhist monastic centers in Mongolia. The monastery complex is located in the Iven Valley near the Selenge River, at the foot of Mount Büren-Khaan in Baruunbüren sum (district) of Selenge Province in northern Mongolia. The nearest town is Erdenet which is about 60 km to the southwest.
Amarbayasgalant was one of the very few monasteries to have partly escaped destruction during the Stalinist purges of 1937, after which only the buildings of the central section remained. Many of the monks were executed by the country's Communist regime and the monastery's artifacts, including thangkas, statues, and manuscripts were looted, although some were hidden until more fortunate times.
Today, only 28 temples remain. Restoration work began in 1988 with funds provided by UNESCO and private sources and some of the new statuary was commissioned in New Delhi, India.
My wife and I aren't fans of big group guided tours but we decided to take one on Santorini - it was actually pretty good. Not too crowded, great guide, and we got to visit places we otherwise would not have made it to. The trip was not without its moments though. We started off by going to the Profitis Ilias Monastery. We had never heard of it. It is at the highest point of the island and getting there was an adventure. Roads on Santorini are not made for tour buses but they are everywhere. It's scary going around blind curves on a road big enough for a car and having buses or trucks coming the other way. Closing our eyes seems to work. However, to get to the monastery parking, the driver had to make a three point turn. To do so, he had the nose of the bus hanging over a sheer cliff. Note - there are no guardrails on Santorini. I thought I was going to poop my pants as we were in the very front seat and knew we were going to die. I think I was shaking for hours after that - wow. And the driver does this every day! The monastery was ok - most of it is closed, but the views of Santorini are awesome. From there we went to the ancient ruins of Akrotiri. This is a village that was completely covered by volcanic ash hundreds of years ago. We like history and ruins but this site is in the beginning stages of being excavated. Greece being Greece, it will proceed at a very slow pace. After this we headed to Pyrgos, a lovely mountain village that we didn't spend near enough time in. If we go back to Santorini we will go there on our own. We spent 1-2 hours in Fira; since we had been there twice already, Heather and I had some very cold beer, people watched, and then savored some great Gelato. One of the highlights of the trip was to be the sunset from Oia. It was actually nice even if half of China was there. Getting out of Oia was interesting to watch - about 80 buses were parked in an lot meant for 10 buses. We look at it as total chaos but the Greeks have it down to a science and everyone eventually found their way to their bus and made it home. We think. All in all this was a very good day but I had to burn my underwear after this bus ride.
I took these photos at the end of September 2019,
Ostrog is one of the Balkans' foremost pilgrimage sites. Despite its remoteness it attracts many visitors from far and wide come to pray at the relics of Saint Basil of Ostrog
Amarbayasgalant Monastery is one of the three largest Buddhist monastic centers in Mongolia. The monastery complex is located in the Iven Valley near the Selenge River, at the foot of Mount Büren-Khaan in Baruunbüren sum (district) of Selenge Province in northern Mongolia. The nearest town is Erdenet which is about 60 km to the southwest.
Amarbayasgalant was one of the very few monasteries to have partly escaped destruction during the Stalinist purges of 1937, after which only the buildings of the central section remained. Many of the monks were executed by the country's Communist regime and the monastery's artifacts, including thangkas, statues, and manuscripts were looted, although some were hidden until more fortunate times.
Today, only 28 temples remain. Restoration work began in 1988 with funds provided by UNESCO and private sources and some of the new statuary was commissioned in New Delhi, India.
We arrived at Petra through the back door, which means the Monastery was the first facade we saw.
The Monastery facade is almost 50m square and sits over 800 steps above the main site.The urn on top is about 10m high.
Cozia Monastery - Romania
Cozia Monastery, erected close to Călimănești by Mircea cel Bătrân in 1388 and housing his tomb, is one of the most valuable monuments of national medieval art and architecture in Romania.
Cozia features a museum of exhibiting old art: old manuscripts and prints, embroideries and objects of worship.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cozia_Monastery
Interesting te read:
www.romanianmonasteries.org/other-monasteries/cozia-monas...
Humor Monastery located in Mănăstirea Humorului, about 5 km north of the town of Gura Humorului, Romania. It is a monastery for nuns dedicated to the Dormition of Virgin Mary, or Theotokos. It was constructed in 1530 by Voievod Petru Rareş. The monastery was built over the foundation of a previous monastery that dated from around 1415. The Humor monastery was closed in 1786 and was not reopened until 1990.
The famous Rila monastery is situated in the deep valley of the Rilska or Rila river in the Rila mtn.s at an elevation of 1,147 m.s above sea level. Founded by (and named after) the hermit monk John (or Ivan) of Rila (876-946) in the reign of the Bulgarian Tsar Peter I (927-968), this monastery has been important most of the time since. Large donations were made to it by almost every tsar of the 2nd Bulgarian Empire up until the Ottoman conquest. Plundered and destroyed (or much of it) in raids by the Turks in the mid-15th cent, the monastery was rebuilt by 3 brothers from Dupnica with donations from the Sultana Mara Branković, the Russian Orthodox Church, and the Rossikon monastery of Mount Athos. The sultan signed a deed in 1466 permitting a compact of mutual assistance with St. Pantheleimon in Mt. Athos, and Ivan of Rila's relics were relocated from Tarnovo to the new complex in 1469. It remained a centre or 'repository' of Bulgarian culture, spirituality, and national consciousness throughout almost 500 yr.s of Ottoman rule. Much of the monastery was destroyed by fire in 1833 and was reconstructed and fortified /b/ 1834 and 1862 (in the period of 'the National Revival') under the direction of architect Alexi Rilets and with the assistance of 1000s of wealthy donors from across Bulgaria. It also became a refuge for such Bulgarian revolutionaries as Vassil Levski, Gotse Delchev, Peyo Yavorov, et al. Today it's the largest monastery in the country and houses @ 60 monks.
- Re-erected on its current site by Hrelyu, a feudal lord, in the early 14th cent., the oldest buildings in the complex include the Tower of Hrelja (1334-'35) and the small 'Chapel of St. John the Theologian' handy to it (1343).
- This 5-domed principal church was built in 1834-37 and it's a beauty, with 3 altars, 2 side chapels, a gold-plated iconostasis (the creation of which took 5 years to complete by 4 craftsmen), a bunch of valuable icons inside dating from the 14th to the 19th cent.s, and frescoes and murals inside and on the exterior walls of the arcade (completed in 1846) which are the work of many masters from Bansko, Samokov and Razlog, incl. the famous brothers Dimitar and Zahari Zograph. Zahari looms large in Bulgaria. Frescos in the painted churches at Troyan and Bachkovo, the 2 largest Bulgarian monasteries after Rila, are his work as well. His murals are bright and colourful, although I thought the scenes of demons defecating into the mouths of Turkish women with funnels and pulling their hair, etc. were a tad unchristian. www.flickr.com/photos/pbrockhoefer/313367997/ www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXeTvAmZweU At least they give an idea of how emotional the Revival period was, when the Turks were brutally suppressing the independence movement.
- "Porticos in the courtyard have Mamluk influence in the striped paint job and in the domes, which became more popular in the Ottoman Empire following the Turkish conquest of Egypt."
- "The 4-storey residential portion of the complex consists of 300 chambers [or rooms], 4 chapels, an abbot's room, a kitchen (noted for its uncommonly large vessels, [huge metal kettles; I took photos of the interesting geometrical interior of its chimney]), a library housing 250 manuscripts and 9,000 old prints, and a donor's room." (Wikipedia)
- The monastery contains a museum (which I toured) and which is most famous for 'Rafail's Cross', a wooden cross made from a whole piece of wood (81×43 cm.s). It was carved or whittled by Rafail, a monk, using fine burins and magnifying lenses to recreate 104 religious scenes and 650 miniature figures. He worked on the cross for at least 12 years before it was completed in 1802 and shortly before he lost his sight. (Wikipedia)
- I stayed here for at least 2 nights in a room or cell on an upper level of the tiers surrounding the monastery and in a cabin in the Rila mtn.s for one in /b/ while I was on a hike. The views from the balconies on the 3rd or 4th floor, near the door to my room, of this church and the tower of Hrelja in the courtyard below, the tiers of the surrounding cells, and of the mountainous backdrop, were worth the trip.
- Either that first day or early the next I hiked @ 5 km.s up to and climbed into the small, stone cave and home of St. John (Ivan) of Rila ('the Miracle Worker', ca. 876-946), patron saint of Bulgaria, which was a hermitage for the man for 12 years and until his passing. I toured the stone 'Church of the Dormition of St. John' (built no later than 1385, renovated in 1820) which is handy to the cave and contains the saint's grave in a corner of the narthex (which I don't recall). And I saw the rock by which he prayed daily (with nice views) and the spring next to the cave's entrance where there's a little shrine. www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxUw2EE8G-o www.youtube.com/watch?v=14whvoGMNQs
- It was here at Rila that I met and befriended a couple who I'd run into again at a monastery near Ohrid and who would visit me in Toronto 3 yr.s later and who I would chauffeur up to and @ Manitoulin island (I took this shot and the next 2 in this stream in their company: flickr.com/photos/97924400@N00/3283393360/in/dateposted-p... ), Ewan from Northern England and his gf Lotje from Belgium. Lotje was a student of languages who could speak 8, and who was ambitiously learning Hungarian, the most difficult European lg. to learn they say, possibly after Basque. Hungarians conjugate their nouns.
- I met a young Australian tourist and we made arrangements to hike up into the mountains above the monastery (I with my tent, etc., he must've had one too) and set out on a trail into the forest. See the description for the next photo.
One of the many ancient monasteries that are perched on top of rocky pinnacles in the mountains at Meteora in Greece.
Apart from a tiny bit of fiddling about this is pretty much an unprocessed photo that was shot like this in b&w in the camera - I used a Nikon Picture Control called MonoHC01 by a wonderful and very generous photographer living in Japan called Alfie Goodrich: www.flickr.com/photos/58233789@N00/
It's just like shooting b&w film except that, because it's a RAW file the effect is reversible back to colour if needed.
Link to Alfie's web site where his Nikon picture controls are available for download: japanorama.co.uk/2010/04/28/nikon-picture-controls/
Amarbayasgalant Monastery is one of the three largest Buddhist monastic centers in Mongolia. The monastery complex is located in the Iven Valley near the Selenge River, at the foot of Mount Büren-Khaan in Baruunbüren sum (district) of Selenge Province in northern Mongolia. The nearest town is Erdenet which is about 60 km to the southwest.
Amarbayasgalant was one of the very few monasteries to have partly escaped destruction during the Stalinist purges of 1937, after which only the buildings of the central section remained. Many of the monks were executed by the country's Communist regime and the monastery's artifacts, including thangkas, statues, and manuscripts were looted, although some were hidden until more fortunate times.
Today, only 28 temples remain. Restoration work began in 1988 with funds provided by UNESCO and private sources and some of the new statuary was commissioned in New Delhi, India.
The Monastery of St. Hormizd in #Alqosh, originally built in 640 AD, has held pivotal importance in the history of the Church of the East, becoming residence of the Patriarchs between 1551 and the 18th century
While the center of monastic life was moved to the new Monastery of Notre Dame des Semences (Our Lady Protector of the Crops) in 1859, it still attracts thousands of faithful, especially for the celebrations in honor of the Saint
Lumbinī (Nepali and Sanskrit: लुम्बिनी, "the lovely") is a Buddhist pilgrimage site in the Rupandehi District of Nepal. It is the place where, according to Buddhist tradition, Queen Mayadevi gave birth to Siddhartha Gautama in 623 BCE. Gautama, who achieved Enlightenment some time around 588 BCE, became the Gautama Buddha and founded Buddhism. Lumbini is one of many magnets for pilgrimage that sprang up in places pivotal to the life of Gautama Buddha; other notable pilgrimage sites include Kushinagar, Bodh Gaya and Sarnath.
Lumbini has a number of temples, including the Mayadevi Temple and several others which are still under construction. Many monuments, monasteries and a museum — the Lumbini International Research Institute — are also located within the holy site. Also located there is the Puskarini or Holy Pond where the Buddha's mother took the ritual dip prior to his birth and where he, too, had his first bath. At other sites near Lumbini, earlier Buddhas were, according to tradition, born, achieved ultimate Enlightenment and finally relinquished their earthly forms.
Lumbini was granted World Heritage status by UNESCO in 1997.
IN BUDDHA´S TIME
In the Buddha's time, Lumbini was situated between Kapilavastu and Devadaha (both in Nepal). It was there, that the Buddha was born. A pillar now marks the spot of Ashoka's visit to Lumbiní. According to an inscription on the pillar, it was placed there by the people then in charge of the park to commemorate Ashoka's visit and gifts. The park was previously known as Rummindei, 3.2 km north of Bhagavanpura.
In the Sutta Nipáta (vs. 683) it is stated that the Buddha was born in a village of the Sákyans in the Lumbineyya Janapada. The Buddha stayed in Lumbinívana during his visit to Devadaha and there preached the Devadaha Sutta.
REDISCOVERY
In 1896, Nepalese archaeologists (led by Khadga Samsher Rana and assisted by Alois Anton Führer) discovered a great stone pillar at Lumbini. Führer postulated that the pillar was placed at the site by Ashoka (emperor of the Maurya Empire) circa 245 BCE. Records made by the Chinese pilgrim Faxian in the early fifth century CE were also used in the process of identifying this religiously acclaimed site.
Recent excavations beneath existing brick structures at the Mayadevi Temple at Lumbini have uncovered evidence for an older timber structure beneath the walls of the newer brick Buddhist shrine, which was constructed during the Ashokan era. The layout of the Ashokan shrine closely follows that of the earlier timber structure, which suggests a continuity of worship at the site. The pre-Mauryan timber structure appears to be an ancient bodhigara (tree shrine), consisting of postholes and a wooden railing surrounding a clay floor containing mineralized tree roots that appears to have been worn smooth by visitors. Radiocarbon dating of charcoal from the wooden postholes and optically stimulated luminescence dating of elements in the soil suggests human activity (possibly pre-Buddhist tree worship) began at the site around 1000 BCE, followed by the development of a Buddhist monastery-like community by approximately 550 BCE.
PRESENT-DAY
The present-day Lumbini historic site is 4.8 km in length and 1.6 km in width. The holy site of Lumbini is bordered by a large monastic zone in which only monasteries can be built, no shops, hotels or restaurants. It is separated into an eastern and western monastic zone, the eastern having the Theravadin monasteries, the western having Mahayana and Vajrayana monasteries.
The holy site of Lumbini has ruins of ancient monasteries, a sacred Bodhi tree, an ancient bathing pond, the Ashokan pillar and the Mayadevi Temple, where the supposed place of birth of Buddha is located. From early morning to early evening, pilgrims from various countries perform chanting and meditation at the site.
A non-governmental organization named Samriddhi Foundation started in 2013 working extensively in the field of education and health specially in government schools of the area where underprivileged children study. A non-governmental organisation called "Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation Foundation" (APECF) backed by chairman of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and then Prime Minister Prachanda, the Chinese government and a UN group called "United Nations Industrial Development Organization" (UNIDO) signed a deal to develop Lumbini into a "special development zone" with funds worth $3 billion. The venture was a China-UN joint project. A broader 'Lumbini Development National Director Committee' under the leadership of Pushpa Kamal Dahal was formed on 17 October 2011. The six-member committee included Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) leader Mangal Siddhi Manandhar, Nepali Congress leader Minendra Rijal, Forest Minister Mohammad Wakil Musalman, among other leaders. The committee was given the authority to "draft a master plan to develop Lumbini as a peaceful and tourism area and table the proposal" and the responsibility to gather international support for the same.
Nipponzan Myohoji decided to build a Peace Pagoda in the park in 2001, which is visited by many different cultures and religions every day.
Hindus regard the Buddha as an incarnation of Vishnu and thousands of Hindu pilgrims go there on the full moon of the Nepali month of Baisakh (April–May) to worship Queen Mayadevi as Rupa Devi, the mother goddess of Lumbini.
Lumbini was granted World Heritage status by UNESCO in 1997.
ON THE NEPALI RUPEE
Nepal's central bank has introduced a 100-rupee Nepali note featuring Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha. The Nepal Rastra Bank said the new note would be accessible only during the Dashain, Nepal's major festival in October 2013. It displays the portrait of Mayadevi, Gautam Buddha's mother in silver metallic on the front. The note also has a black dot which would help the blind recognise the note. The name of the central bank in Latin script would be printed on the note along with the date of printing in both the Christian Era and the Bikram Era. The new note is being issued following a cabinet decision 27 August.
TRANSPORT
Lumbini is a 9-hour drive from Kathmandu and a 30-minute drive from Bhairahawa. The closest airport is Gautam Buddha Airport at Bhairahawa, with flights to and from Kathmandu.
WIKIPEDIA
Agia Napa is the largest tourist resort in Cyprus, with a 27,000-person-bed capacity and more than 175 hotels and apartments of all sizes. Agia Napa attracts mainly young people from Great Britain and Scandinavia, who come to enjoy the beaches and the countless bars and clubs.
Whereas in summer thousands of young, party-loving tourists flock to the restaurants, clubs and bars, in winter there’s hardly a soul to be seen. All clubs and almost all the restaurants are closed.
The Agia Napa Monastery, built in the form of a medieval castle around 1500 AD during the Venetian period. The name Agia Napa (Holy Forest) comes from an ancient, forested area and a miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary reportedly found in a cave.
The monastery is partially built underground and cut into the rock and the oldest sections trace back to the Byzantine era.
The Ganden Sumtsenling Monastery, also known as Sungtseling and Guihuasi (Tibetan: དགའ་ལྡན་སུམ་རྩེན་གླིང་, dga' ldan sum rtsen gling, Chinese: 松赞林寺 Sōngzànlín Sì), is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery situated 5 kilometres from the city of Zhongdian at elevation 3,380 metres in Yunnan province, China. Built in 1679, the monastery is the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Yunnan province and is sometimes referred to as the Little Potala Palace. Located in the capital of Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, it is also the most important monastery in southwest China.
It belongs to the Yellow Hat sect of Tibetan Buddhism of the Gelukpa order of the Dalai Lama. The Fifth Dalai Lama's Buddhist visionary zeal established the monastery in Zhongdian, in 1679. Its architecture is a fusion of the Tibetan and Han Chinese. It was extensively damaged in the Cultural Revolution and subsequently rebuilt in 1983; at its peak, the monastery contained accommodation for 2,000 monks; it currently accommodates in its rebuilt structures 700 monks in 200 associated houses.
Because of the popularity of James Hilton's novel Lost Horizon (novel) (1933), which introduced Shangri-La and is said have been written on an inspirational theme of "the Tibetan Buddhist Scriptures, where human beings, animals, and nature lived in harmony under the rule of a Tibetan", the Chinese authorities changed the name of Zhongdian County to Shangri-La County in 2001, basically to encourage tourism. The earlier names were – the Zhongdian (建塘镇 Jiàntáng Zhèn) to the Chinese, and Gyalthang (Standard Tibetan: རྒྱལ་ཐང་རྫོང་) to the Tibetans, of the town which has predominantly Tibetan population. The name of the county's capital town was similarly changed from Jiantang to Shangri-la. The ambiance of the town is distinctly Tibetan with prayer flags fluttering, mountains known by holy names, lamaseries and rocks inscribed in Tibetan language with Buddhist sutras.
GEOGRAPHY
The monastery, with a group of structures packed together on a rolling farm land, located in the town of Jiantang in the Yunnan province, now renamed as Shangri-la town in the renamed Shangri-la county, is in the heart of the mountain range known as Hengduan Mountain Range; it is part of the Mount Baimang Nature Reserve in Yunnan province but the monastery does not have snow covered backdrop. It is delimited in the north west contiguously by Tibet, to the north by Muli and Ganzi, on the west by the Salween River Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, on its south by the Lijiang; the populace is an amalgam of Tibetans, Hui, Bai, Naxi and Han. The town is located on the famous Southern Silk Road, which originates in Sichuan province in the north, crosses Yunnan province and goes to Vietnam.
Well established road links exist from Shangri-la to Lhasa, Litang, Dali and Tibetan Sichuan. It is 198 kilometres to the northwest of Lijiang. Shangri-La is also well connected by air with Lhasa and Kunming from its airport known as Shangri-La Diqing Airport, which is 7 kilometres to the south of the town in the Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. However, there are no rail links at present. The monastery is an hour's walk from the Shangri-la town and is a major attraction for tourists and the change of name of the town to Shangri-la and the impressive Monastery complex are stated to have encouraged tourism to this place.
HISTORY
The Sumtseling monastery belonging to the Gelukpa order of Buddhism was established by the Fifth Dalai Lama in 1679. It was built during the rule of the Qing dynasty Kangxi Emperor (r.1662-1722). He fully patronized the development of this monastery. It is also said that the emperor was associated in the reincarnation search for the Seventh Dalai Lama.
In the 1930s, the monastery had provided full support to the Communist general He Long who passed through this area during his campaign. However, in 1959, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China bombed the monastery during their invasion of Tibet. Since 1981, the situation has changed, the monastery buildings have been mostly restored and normality prevails.
STTRUCTURES
The Monastery built in the 17th century as the largest Buddhist monastery in Yunnan province, after a revelation by the Fifth Dalai Lama is in accordance with Tibetan traditional architectural style. It has six main structures including eight colleges. The entrance gate is at the foot of the hill and provides access to the main hall of the monastery through 146 steps.
In the main hall of the monastery, more than 1500 monks congregate to recite the Buddhist scriptures. This hall houses a plethora of scriptures written on palm leaves, a gilded statue of Shakyamuni Buddha which is 8 metres tall at the main altar along with paintings depicting the life of Buddha. The altar has permanent decorated by yak butter lamps.
The monastery has two major lamasery buildings – Zhacang and Jikang – apart from several smaller lamaseries. Numerous living rooms have also been built for the monks to reside. The main monastery structure built in Tibetan style has a gilded copper roof similar to the one at the Potala Monastery in Lhasa. The other buildings in the complex are built in Han Chinese style.
The road from the old town of the city, leads to the scripture chamber (Gucheng Zangjingtang), which was earlier a Red Army Memorial hall to commemorate the Red Army's long march in the 1930s. At the opposite end of this hall, across the street is the Gulshan Park (Gulshan Gongyuan), which has a monastery with a commanding view of the town and its surroundings. Further along the road, known as the 'Changzeng Lu' 2 kilometres long north-south trending street with intersecting roads laid in grid pattern) to the extreme south, is another temple. Passing through this street leads to gardens and a pavilion; and further to the north on a hill, there is a Chorten (Tibetan stupa). The east west road 'Tuanje Jie' leads to many smaller temples at the south end around the old town.
FESTIVALS
The Gedong Festival is held in the precincts of the monastery annually on 29 November when devotees from the region attend to worship and also to witness the religious mask dances – the Cham dance – that are performed by the monks in colourful costumes depicting deities, ghosts and animals.
A three-day 'Horse Racing Festival' also known as 'Heavenly Steed Festival' is held at Zandiaong, some time in June (according to the lunar calendar: 5th day of the 5th month), to the south east of the town, which involves dancing, singing and eating, in addition to the racing of horses. Horse traders assemble here in their finest attire of furs and silks. Families of villagers camp in tents at the designated horse racing meadow land at an elevation of 3,288 metres.
A new festival introduced in 1990s is called the 'Minority Festival' held in September when artists from neighbouring districts and Tibet participate to present their art forms.
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Shangri-La is a county-level city in northwestern Yunnan province, People's Republic of China and is the location of the seat of the Dêqên Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.
NAME
In the second half of the 20th century Shangri-La was called Zhongdian (Chinese: 中甸 Zhōngdiàn) but was renamed on 17 December 2001 as Shangri-La (other spellings: Semkyi'nyida, Xianggelila, or Xamgyi'nyilha) after the fictional land of Shangri-La in the 1933 James Hilton novel Lost Horizon, in an effort to promote tourism in the area. The original Tibetan population previously refers to this place by its traditional name Gyalthang or Gyaitang (Standard Tibetan: རྒྱལ་ཐང།; Wylie: rgyal thang, ZWPY: Gyaitang), meaning "Royal plains". This ancient name is reflected in the Tibetan Pinyin name of the town of Jiantang (建塘; Jiàntáng), the county seat.
TOWNS
Jiantang Town
Zhongdian Town
Hutiaoxia Town
Jinjiang Town
Luoji Township
In the early morning of January 11, 2014, a fire broke out in the 1,000-year-old Dukezong Tibetan neighborhood. About 242 homes and shops were destroyed and 2,600 residents were displaced. About half of the old town was destroyed by the fire, half was spared. After the fire residents were allowed back to their homes and shops. By the end of 2014 rebuilding had started and tourism started to come back. Generally tourism was not affected by the fire, since the main sights in the old town, such as the prayer wheel and temples were not damaged. Many of the other main sights are located outside of the old town.
CLIMATE
Shangri-La has a monsoon-influenced humid continental climate (Köppen Dwb), due to the high elevation. Winters are chilly but sunny, with a January 24-hour average temperature of −3.2 °C, while summers are cool, with a July 24-hour average temperature of 13.5 °C, and feature frequent rain; more than 70% of the annual precipitation is delivered from June to September. The annual mean is 5.85 °C. Except during the summer, nights are usually sharply cooler than the days. Despite the dryness of the winter, the small amount of precipitation is generally sufficient to cause major transportation dislocations and isolate the area between November and March. Being located just 27° in latitude from the equator, the effects of altitude on the climate are so exceptional that it actually means the average yearly temperature is 2.5°C lower than that for Bergen, Norway, located as much as 60° from the equator.
NATIONAL PARK
Pudacuo National Park, the first national park in China to meet IUCN standards, is part of the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas World Heritage Site.
TRANSPORT
The town's airport is Diqing Airport. Covering an area of 225 hectares, it is one of the biggest airports in the northwest of Yunnan. There are flights to Kunming, Chengdu, Lhasa, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
Since there is no railway available in Shangri-la, taking a long-distance bus is also a major means to get to Shangri-la besides flight. It takes about 4 hours to get to Shangri-la from Lijiang by bus.It is also advised to rent a car so that tourists could also visit the Tiger Leaping Gorge and the First Bend of Yangtze River on the way.
Many travelers use the county town as a gateway into Tibet, either travelling many days overland by jeep to Lhasa, or by flying from the city's airport. However, the town itself is a tourist destination, primarily due to the nearby Gandan Sumtseling Monastery, Ganden Sumtsen Ling, 松赞林寺 Sōngzànlín Sì), Pudacuo National Park, and Tiger Leaping Gorge.
China National Highway 214
WIKIPEDIA
Amarbayasgalant Monastery is one of the three largest Buddhist monastic centers in Mongolia. The monastery complex is located in the Iven Valley near the Selenge River, at the foot of Mount Büren-Khaan in Baruunbüren sum (district) of Selenge Province in northern Mongolia. The nearest town is Erdenet which is about 60 km to the southwest.
Amarbayasgalant was one of the very few monasteries to have partly escaped destruction during the Stalinist purges of 1937, after which only the buildings of the central section remained. Many of the monks were executed by the country's Communist regime and the monastery's artifacts, including thangkas, statues, and manuscripts were looted, although some were hidden until more fortunate times.
Today, only 28 temples remain. Restoration work began in 1988 with funds provided by UNESCO and private sources and some of the new statuary was commissioned in New Delhi, India.
Leh: Thiksey Monastery (June, 2016)
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Place:Thiksey
Date:2016:06:23 15:06:21
File:DSC01438.jpg
Amarbayasgalant Monastery is one of the three largest Buddhist monastic centers in Mongolia. The monastery complex is located in the Iven Valley near the Selenge River, at the foot of Mount Büren-Khaan in Baruunbüren sum (district) of Selenge Province in northern Mongolia. The nearest town is Erdenet which is about 60 km to the southwest.
Amarbayasgalant was one of the very few monasteries to have partly escaped destruction during the Stalinist purges of 1937, after which only the buildings of the central section remained. Many of the monks were executed by the country's Communist regime and the monastery's artifacts, including thangkas, statues, and manuscripts were looted, although some were hidden until more fortunate times.
Today, only 28 temples remain. Restoration work began in 1988 with funds provided by UNESCO and private sources and some of the new statuary was commissioned in New Delhi, India.
The church of Saint Sabbas the Sanctified is the big church with a dome. In front of it we see the oldest hall church of the monastery - сhurch of the Dormition. Small church of Saint George is in the foreground. The bell tower with a church of Saint Marina is on the left.
White cruise ship used by tourists heading to the monasteries of Mount Athos, departing from Ouranoupolis.
The Benedictine monastery of Obarra ( XI-XVI). Today only the church remains and a few walls of the abbot's residence.
The location is quite unique. The valley is narrowing to a gorge only a few meters wide, the access was easy to control.
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Das verlassene Benediktinerkloster von Obarra. Es war vom 11. bis 16Jh bewohnt. Heute steht nur noch die Kirche und ein paar Wände der Wohnung des Abtes. Die Lage ist einzigartig- das Tal wird hier zur engen Schlucht und der Durchgang konnte einfach kontrolliert werden.