The 29th Kagyu Monlam entrance
gates
4 March, 2012
The main entrance gate to this year’s Monlam stands simply
and modestly, spanning the roughly paved road from Tergar
Monastery to the Monlam Pavilion. The gate consists of three
square bamboo towers, covered in white, brown and orange
cloth and topped by a blue roof. Each tower is decorated
with a large bunch of artificial roses at each of its four
corners. The spans between the towers are hung with ‘prayer
flag” style banners. Each banner bears repetitions of the
dharani mantra:
OM PEMO KHA-NI-KHA BEMA LE HUNG PHAT
In total there are 800 repetitions of the mantra written on
the gate.
Known in Tibetan as the gtsug
tor dri med ( the immaculate ushnisha), this
mantra is written over the entrance to temples because of
its great powers of purification. This is the third year in
succession that it has featured on the Kagyu Monlam entrance
gate. The intention is that all who pass through the gates
during the Monlam festival will receive spiritual benefit.
It is said that one repetition of the mantra can purify the
negative karma accumulated in 1000 lives.
There are two further gates. The smaller gate is the pink,
wooden torii-style gate which usually stands at the back
entrance to the Mahabodhi stupa. As this year’s Monlam has
been relocated to the Monlam Pavilion, the gate now stands
on the verge in front of the main gate to the Pavilion
itself.
The final gate is the central entrance to the Monlam
Pavilion itself. This stone-effect brick and concrete
structure has been freshly painted in dusky pink and is
reminiscent of the palisade architecture at Buddhist sites.
Across the top of its single span is a simple plywood
cut-out greeting written in Tibetan which declares: Welcome
to Kagyu Monlam.
Last year the Gyalwang Karmapa explained his reasons for
using the gtsug-tor-dri-med:
The main purpose for which this gate has been made…….[is}
for the inner meaning, the blessings. We have affixed
important dharani mantras to the gate so that it serves two
functions as people pass back and forth underneath. Its
blessings purify particular obscurations, and also assist in
the two accumulations [of wisdom and merit].
Report by Jo Gibson, photos taken by
karma Lecho
