When it comes to temples in Qinghai, I believe everyone will think of the famous Kumbum Monastery, but few people mention Longwu Temple in Huangnanzhou. In fact, Longwu Temple has a history of more than 600 years, and it is a Tibetan Buddhist temple with a longer history than Kumbum Temple. It is as famous as the Labrang Monastery in Gansu Province and Kumbum Monastery in Qinghai Province. It is one of the three famous temples in the Amdo area and is also a national key cultural relic protection unit.
Longwu Temple has a large scale. Every day from early morning to sunset, a large number of Buddhist believers come to worship the Buddha. Some kowtow to the Buddha statue, some circle the temple, and some keep turning. Through the cylinder.
Because in their beliefs, the rotation of the mani wheel can replace chanting and praying for blessings, avoiding disasters for themselves and their families, increasing blessings and prolonging life, and accumulating merits and virtues. Regardless of men, women, young or old, they walked around in an orderly manner, some chanting words, and some silently praying in their hearts.
I believe everyone has read a lot about Tibetan Buddhism. Yufan will not repeat it here. Today, let’s talk about what the monks in these temples usually eat?
On the day we visited Longwu Temple, hundreds of lamas gathered in a main hall of the temple to chant scriptures and study together. According to Yu Fan’s inquiries with a monk, these lamas were not all monks in the temple, and some of them were from Xining, Shanghai, etc. The monks of some surrounding monasteries such as East, Haixi and Hainan.
When we first arrived, we saw that many shoes had been taken off outside the door, and the inside of the main hall was not open to tourists, so we wandered around other places in the temple at random. When we returned to the main hall after twelve o'clock, it was just I saw some lamas at the entrance of the main hall delivering meals to the main hall.
At the same time, they also distributed the same Chinese food as them to the tourists who came to the temple to pay respects to the Buddha and to play - a box of lunch ordered by an outside restaurant. Everyone felt embarrassed and rejected them one after another. All accepted.
All the tourists in the temple, including Yufan, got a light meal, which also gave us the opportunity to understand their lives up close. We specially took this group of photos and shared them with you.
After all the light meals for monks and tourists have been distributed, the monks in charge of logistics will also sit or squat to eat (as shown in the picture above).
Taking the opportunity of having a meal, Yu Fan chatted with a few young lamas. They came from a monastery in Xining. They have been in Longwu Temple for more than two months. They usually learn some Mandarin. Although they are not very fluent, they have basic communication skills. no problem.
They said that they usually have their own courtyard. An old lama (older and higher-level) lives with a few young lamas. He can cook and eat by himself. Sometimes he goes back to the courtyard to eat by himself during lunch. Cooked, sometimes they will eat this kind of custom boxed lunch together.
So, like them, we squatted in a corner of the temple, lined up, and enjoyed a free lunch. This kind of lunch is hard to come by, even if you spend money, you may not be able to buy it. It is not its taste. How good it is is not how rich it is, but interesting and memorable.
