His Holiness accompanied by Mingyur Rinpoche visiting the Mahabodhi
Stupa
December 12, 2008, report by Jo
Gibson, photos taken by Karma Lekcho
On Friday December 12th, in the morning, His Holiness, accompanied by
Mingyur Rinpoche, completed his first public engagement, visiting the Mahabodhi
Stupa. Before he entered the Mahabodhi Stupa grounds, he was greeted by the
Chairman of the Mahabodhi Management Committee, who presented His Holiness with
a traditional Tibetan khatag. His Holiness then walked barefoot to the shrine
hall of the Mahabodhi stupa. He prostrated three times to the golden image of
Shakyamuni Buddha, offered mandala prayers and recited the Praise of the Twelve
Deeds of Lord Buddha. Finally, he completed two circumambulations: one inner
circuit and one outer circuit.
Preparations for Kagyu Monlam 2009 are well under way, so, following his visit
to the Mahabodhi Stupa, Gyalwang Karmapa visited the Bhutanese Temple, where he
met the monks and nuns preparing this year’s butter sculptures, and inspected
the work in progress. The monks and nuns have been specially chosen for their
expertise from several Kagyu monasteries and nunneries. This year’s theme is the
four major sects of Tibetan Buddhism. There will be six major butter sculptures,
three to the left and three to the right of the bodhi tree. On the right there
will be representations of Marpa, Milarepa and Gompopa, the founders of the
Kagyu tradition. On the left will be butter sculptures representing the Sakya
Forefathers , Sakya-Gongma-Sum, the Geluk Je-Yab-Sey-Sum, Je Tsongkhapa and his
two principal disciples, and the Nyingma Khen-Lob-Choe-Sum, Padmasambhava,
Trisong Detsen and Satarakshita.
His Holiness arriving at the Mahabodhi
Temple site
His Holiness accompanied by Mingyur
Rinpoche visiting the Mahabodhi Stupa
His Holiness recited the Praise of the
Twelve Deeds of Lord Buddha
His Holiness completed two
circumambulations: one inner circuit and one outer circuit
His Holiness visited the Bhutanese Temple
to inspect the butter sculptures
