Pictures by Edwin Quesada and Sandip Medpalliwar © 2005.
On Saturday April 23rd 2005 mi friends Sandip, Mike, Ajay and me made a day trip from Bloomington Illinois to Bloomington Indiana. The expedition took a total of seven hours; three and a half each way. The main purpose of this travel was to visit some of the local Tibetan attractions.
With a population of almost 100,000 people, Bloomington Indiana have a hard working Tibetan colony that is well represented by two restaurants, two monasteries and a cultural center.
This city is unique in the Mid West due to its vast diversity. Since we wanted to take advantage of this opportunity we also had some appetizers at Casablanca, a Moroccan cafe; and had dinner at Legacy of the Incas, a Peruvian Restaurant (to honor my Latino roots). But must part of the trip was focused on the Tibetan culture and the impression it has been leaving in this beautiful city.
Here you'll find some picture we took that day:
We arrived to Bloomington around noon. our first objective was to have lunch at
Anyetsang Little Tibet
restaurant. There we had some "Po-cha", Tibetan salty tea, and we also
tasted the traditional "momos". In this picture, from left to right,
Sandip, me and Ajay.
At the entrance of Anyetsang Little Tibet restaurant. Besides Tibetan food they
also serve Thai and Indian dishes. Later that day we came back so Mike and Ajay
were able to buy t-shirts with the restaurant's logo on them. !Typical tourists!
After lunch we headed to the Tibetan Cultural Center where we were welcomed by
praying flags that Mike, who is from Arkansas, took for laundry drying in
the wind!
One of the stupas at the Cultural Center. It is called Jangchub Chorten and was
consecrated by the Dalai Lama. Inside the stupa there are some precious relics
and copies of sacred texts of the Tibetan Buddhism tradition.
To show respect to the stupa one has to walk three times around it clockwise. In
spite of the cold wind my friends Mike and Ajay followed me patiently to accomplish
with the traditional walk.
The Kalachakra stupa is located between the Jangchub Chorten and the temple.
The Kalachakra stupa is beautifully decorated. Inside in the ceiling it shows
this reproduction of a Kalachakra mandala.
The new ecumenical temple and monastery at the Tibetan Cultural Center. The
typical Tibetan architecture is notorious in the design.
A view of the temple's interior. In another room an exhibition shows a series of
photographs regarding the struggle for freedom and human rights of the Tibetan people caused
by the Chinese occupation.
At the other side of town we found the Dagom Gaden Tensung-Ling monastery that
follows a different lineage of Tibetan Buddhism.
The monastery is a house that had been adapted to the Tibetan architecture.
Recent renovation have added a unique colorful style.
Ajay, Mike and me waiting patiently for someone to answer at the door. Finally one of the ladies inside came out and told us that the entrance was in the back
side of the monastery.
One of the resident Lamas welcome us and had a chat with Sandip and Ajay in
Hindi. I bought some malas (Tibetan Buddhist rosary) that he blessed for me. This
is the temple; small but full of peace and solemnity.
After our visit to the monastery we decided to hang around in downtown. After
having tea and coffee in Casablanca we visited a small an interesting art gallery called The Wandering Turtle. The owner was very kind and the store happened to be excelent. We finished our visit to Bloomington, Indiana at
Legacy of Incas, the Peruvian restaurant that I mentioned at the beginning. In
this picture, in the usual order, Sandip, me, Ajay and Mike.
In spite of the ilegal ocupation of its territory by China, Tibet keeps alive its culture, religion, and traditions. Tibetans in exile deserve our solidarity and admiration. Comunities like Bloomington Indiana set an example giving support to the Tibetan people, creating the necesary conditions to let them preserve and enrich their culture.
Here you'll find some links to websites related with Tibet and Bloomington Indiana:
Tibetan Cultural Center in Bloomington, Indiana
Free Tibet (Indiana University student group)
Dagom Gaden Tensung-Ling Monastery
Tibet in Costa Rica (in Spanish)
Tashi Delek!
©2005 All rights reserved. Reproduction of the written or graphic content of this website is not allowed without the expressed consent of the authors.