Temple Grandin

The lantern line up started at the mountain base. It led us up to the temple, where it broke into a canopy. With Buddha’s birthday four short days away, all the decorations had been hung. They floated overhead, a crowd of lights to be lit.

The old women sat on laid out carpet, shining silver in the sun. Gloved fingers grasped newsprint to polish brassy bowls. On knees they bowed before gold statues and lit candles, as our headshake gestures said to each other: no pictures here.

First built in 1613 the temple sits at a mystic mountain’s foot. As legend goes, a golden fish once descended there on a five-coloured cloud. From the Brahma heaven he came to play on top a rock three-people tall with water falling down.

Towards this fountain we walked through a forest full of giant tortoise rocks.