Burning some incense 烧佛香

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Two old friends are having serious surgery within the next week to ten days. They asked me to burn some incense for them, hoping that it might help tilt the odds towards a good outcome. They're not very religious and neither am I, but we figured it couldn't hurt. 

 

We are in the middle of rainy season here in Kunming, but this afternoon a few hours of unscheduled sunshine allowed me to ride my bike over to Tanhua Temple 昙花寺, where I did what I could. Snapshots from the visit. (You can click the photos to enlarge them.)

 

Entry and exterior courtyard. 

 

   

 

 

Interior courtyard and pavilion of disciples/arhats (luohan =  罗汉.)

 

   

 

 

Central square for burning candles and incense. You can't have fires elsewhere because of safety concerns. 

 

   

 

 

This is a popular place to ask for divine help with medical problems. Met two families who had one member each in hospital pajamas with a plastic ID tag on one wrist, burning incense just like I was. 

 

   

 

 

Three small devotional halls let you kowtow and kneel before Buddhas. Chants are playing through the sound system. 

 

   

 

 

After finishing my business, took another way out, passing through different parts of the grounds. A large park is adjacent, but I didn't go there today. 

 

   

 

 

Sat a while on a shady bench overlooking a pagoda set in a small lake.  Last snapshot, below right, is the exit. This temple and grounds are set in a somewhat rundown residential area, well off the tourist trail. Admission 5 Yuan, less than a dollar. Peaceful place; one of my favorites; been there several times before. 

 

 

      

 

 

[amytheorangutan]

That’s such a beautiful little temple. I’m not religious either but I still love going to temple like that where I can come and go anytime of the day and stay as short or as long as I want especially on regular days when there are not many people. I find it calming and I actually like the smell of the incense burning as long as there are not too many people in there doing that same thing that the smoke makes you cry your eyes out ?.

[Shelley]

Absolutely beautiful, enchanting peaceful place. Wonderful architecture, gorgeous plants, brilliant paintings and..........a green wheelie  bin. Excellent, glad to see they are everywhere and no place is exempt from them.

 

Thanks for the effort and hope your friends recover well.

[Luxi]

How very peaceful it feels looking at those photos! Thanks for posting them.

[NinjaTurtle]

For people in Shanghai, I recommend visiting Longhua Temple in southwest Shanghai. Get off the subway at Longhua Station on the Brown Line number 11. The temple grounds is quite large. Afterwards, stop in for some noodles at the restaurant in the back and to the right. At trip to Longhua Temple is a great way to spend a Saturday morning and afternoon.