April 22, 2010

Young Tibetan Pilgrim On The Road

Location: Near Bayi town, Tibet, Tibet, China (29.66639°N 94.36278°E)
Date: 15 August 2007, 8.20am
Camera: Canon 400D with Sigma 17-70/f2.8-4.5

Most Tibetans are rather religious- to them living life is synonymous to living a Tibetan Buddhist life. One of the main objectives of most devoted Tibetans is a pilgrimage to sacred sites such as Potala Palace in Lhasa, Mount Kailash, Yamdroktse and so on. Their sort of pilgrimage is not just hoping on a car or bus to the destinations but to walk and prostrate all the way to the destinations. What this entail is to pray and then prostrate on all fours, laying on the ground facing the direction of the path/road for every three steps. Normally such a journey will be undertaken in a group of 2 or 3 persons. 2 pilgrims will be prostrating all the way to the destinations while a helper will pull a trolley/cart of their belongings, food, tent and camping items alongside. Such a pilgrimage journey could take many days and even months to complete, depending on where the pilgrims live in relation to their destinations. I met this young pilgrim (of a family of pilgrims) on the road near the town of Bayi. They have walked and prostrated from northern Sichuan for about 12 days, on their way to Lhasa. One can see the dark patch on his forehead, which is the result of prostrating and knocking his forehead on the ground. However, look at his expression and one will realise the inner strength and happiness he felt to be embarking on such a pilgrimage.

1 comment:

fufu said...

yeah i saw how the pilgrims pray when i was in Qinghai province :) took some videos though it's not polite to do so.. haha