Himalayan Times (1952)

April H. 1952

3iim«launn vLimc®

Nine

.ire turned by monks; a turn of the
wheel meant a round of prayers

Lhasa, the Tibetan metropolis, is
delightful, pretty as a picture postcard
The Drenang monastery, housing 10U0U
monks has 10 abbot-executives. Drepang
monastery apart, the Lama palace marks
the highest pinnacle of architectural glory.
I'he lamaseries own one-third of ttie
land and consume half of the total
revenue. In a large way, this wind-swept
bleak barren tableland shows Tibetans
the wav to the next, world, this one
being unpromising. No where else in
the world, the spiritual path is so
much stressed and followed up as
in Tibet

During festive occasions, officials
and their wives ride well decorated
horses, followed by nobles in their
flowing robes moving forward in
tune with the sounds of drums
and cymbals. The only car in Tibet, an
old Ford, belongs t Dalai Lama-

Tibet grows her own corn and
fruits and has plenty of minerals,
lousiness is no more than a fitful trickle.
She imports sugar, hardware and cottous
from India, tea. silks and porcelain from
China, bamboo blinds and picture scrolls
from Japan. Her exports are musk9,
medical herbs, salt, borax hides, furs
ami wools. 1 he Kalimpong—Lhasa route
increased Tibetan trade by leaps
and bounds.

mountain-tops where th»*y are dismem-
bered and thrown tb"dj}e vultures. Thei^
wealthy are hedonists, while the poor
starve and sweat for them. A mixture
of yak butter and tea is the Tibetan's
choice cup. Normally he gulps in 40
to 50 cups of tea a day.

The 900-ft. gold-roofed jiotala,
erected 4 centuries back, is the Dalai-
Lama s palace. It has a thousand
\rooms. The Dalai Lama Js the spiritual
as well a9 the temporal head of
Tibetans. His features are not unusual
except for a pair of dull bright eyes
set above too wide cheekbones.

Gautama Buddha, the founder of
Buddhism, is said to have chosen the
first Dalai Lama. He exercises spiritual
overlordship over Buddhists in Sikiang,
outer-Mongolia and Ohien Turkestan.
Buddhism has never risen to such
fanatical heights as in Tibet.

They Dalai Lama is not allowed ti
marry. /He has to be a celibate—a
chronic bachelor. Women are taboo to
him. He is not to drink wine. Hi3 is
a life of spartan simplicity, discipline
and selfcpntrol. He i9 a splendiferous
king and^ his court is a spectacle of
supreme glory. In red Lama robes, this
godking touches the bowed heads of
priests lined up in front of him every
day. The heads of others he touches
with a sash. That i9 how the Dalai
Lama, blesses his subjects.

1 belt* the society is feudal, hut
the Government is theocratic. No census
has ever been taken of the population.
Lhasa itself is peopled by 25 000 to
50 000 souls. Be fuse chutes overflow at
street-corneis; they stink. Dead animals
are tossed out the rubbish heaps dogs
anti re vena teed on them. The Tibetan
way of disposing the dead is crude
and clumsy. The corpses are carried on to

Dalai Lama knows no death. He
just changes body at- will. When a

body wears out, i»e slips into a new

one. It is believed that the soul of

the dead Dalai Lama is reincarnate 1
in the body of another new-born, born
the moment the Dalai Lima died. If

more than a child is born that moment
there are signs to show up the right
claimant.