« back to search results
Image 116 of 197
< Prev Next >
_DSC0042 - Version 2.jpg
Horse and rider at the edge of Namtso Lake and storm approching,Namtso, another holy lake in Tibet, is located near Damxung. 4718 meters (15475 feet) above sea level and covering 1900 square kilometers (735 square miles), the lake is the highest saltwater lake in the world and the second largest saltwater lake in China. The snow capped Mt. Nyainqentanglha, considered as the son of Namtso and leader of sacred mountains, soars up to sky beside her. Singing streams converge into the clean sapphire blue lake, which looks like a huge mirror framed and dotted with flowers..The Namtso Lake is held as "the heavenly lake" or "the holy lake" in northern Tibet. .Respected as one of the three holiest lakes in Tibet, the Namtso Lake is the seat of Paramasukha Chakrasamvara for Buddhist pilgrims. In the fifth and sixth month of the Tibetan calendar each year, many Buddhists come to the lake pay homage and pray. Deep tracks are worn into the lakeshore due to this activity. In history, monasteries stood like trees in a forest around the site, attracting large numbers of pilgrims as eminent monks in Buddhist temples extended Buddhist teachings...Buddhists believe Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and Vajras will assemble to hold religious meeting at Namtso in the year of sheep on Tibetan calendar. It is said that walking around the lake at the right moment is 100,000 times more efficacious than that in normal years. That's why thousands of pilgrims from every corner of the world come to pray at the site, with the activity reaching a climax on Tibetan April 15...Walking around the lake takes a week. Ritual walkers love to burn aromatic plants to raise smoke on Auspicious Island [explain this a little] and throw a piece of hada scarf into the lake as a token of fulfilled wishes. If the scarf sinks, it implies ones wish is accepted by the Buddha; if the scarf flows on the water or only half sinks, it means one has failed to be honest and something unhappy may lie ahead...On the four sides of the l