Kajiu Temple: A Seclusion Shrine Hidden in Shannan

Kajiu Temple, a thousand-year-old temple hidden in snowy mountains, forests, and grasslands, has beautiful scenery around and is an important pilgrimage site for Buddhist believers. It is located among the forest peaks behind Lakang Town, Luozha County, Shannan District, Tibet Autonomous Region, with an altitude of about 3996 meters. The temple sits on a hill and is condescending.

The full name of Kajiu Temple is Kajiu Auspicious Monastery. It is one of the important seclusion shrines of the Nyingma Sect in Tibet. With a history of more than 1,200 years, Kajiu Temple is the ancestral temple where all generations of Nuns Nankaningbu living Buddha (one of Guru Rinpoche's 25 disciples) studied Buddhist classics and the esoteric mysteries of Tibetan Buddhism, and devoted themselves to practice.

Here the vegetation is luxuriant, the mountain is full of flowers, the scenery is beautiful, and the climate is pleasant. It can be said that birds are singing, flowers are fragrant, and the mountains and rivers are beautiful, making people feel like they are in a paradise on earth. The mountains, waters, flowers and trees here mostly show natural Buddhist holy sites, including natural holy lakes, yin-yang longevity water, sacred trees and sacred cliffs, as well as precious herbs and codonopsis pilosula.

Kajiu Temple was a famous place for practice where Master Guru Rinpoche retreated for 7 years in the seventh century AD. It was also a magical place for Buddhist pilgrimages where many eminent monks and saints such as Langkain Nyingpo inherited the Buddhism. There are more than 100 practice caves here. In 1586, Bianzhi Baimagabu created a lazhang, hence the name Kajiu Dedanduiqionglin. In 1682, the fifth Dalai Lama created the main hall of the temple. The temple has more than ten important cultural relics such as the practice grounds of Guru Rinpoche, Langkai Ningpo, their footprints, and Buddhism tools. At the same time, the temple is also a must pass place for the zhari parade in the Year of the Monkey in Tibetan calendar.

Kajiu Temple

Happy to become a Fairy

In the boundless mountains, the desolate faces with knives and axes shaped the Lorzha Mountains. After continuous driving on the endless wilderness road in Lorzha, the small town of Lakang has given the weary travelers the best comfort and supplies. The small and exquisite town, and the traffic path of the rice paddies, welcomes the parents who are rushing to pick up the children whose immature and innocent faces. It is the smoke in the barren mountains, full of vitality, and comforting the hearts of travelers.

In the morning when the sky is still dark, I can listen to the quietness of the air flowing in my ears, sucking in the deep freshness before dawn and walking up the mountain. With the help of the limited light of the car lights and flashlights, I realize that I am actually walking through the misty sea of clouds. Don't go. Looking back at the world behind you, at the moment when the thick fog was split, the cloud slowly wrapped everything behind you, as if trying to hide the steepness and danger of the mountains.

Traveling in the sea of clouds, carefree in the sea of fog, in the seemingly dark and thick mountains, letting the pure and fresh air penetrate the mouth and nose, the taste is unprecedentedly transparent and refreshing. Compressed by the dampness of the soil, this seemingly dark journey before dawn seems to be driving a sea of clouds to the top of the mountain while flashing, looking forward to the grand occasion of "Kajiu Sunrise".

Brown Tailed Red Pheasant

Thoughts on Mountain Summit, Misty Sea of Clouds

After walking through the cozy happiness in the clouds and mist, stepping on the soft and moist soil, I was stunned that the field of vision is completely in the white sea of clouds, close to... close to... Standing on the top of the mountain, the distant mountains are rich in color, and indigo green. The flow of the sea of clouds surrounds the deep green, and the natural ink painting is happy.

In the gradual appearance of the sky, the sea of clouds gradually changed from the thick ink to a lighter and thinner white. I quietly stood and waited. As the sky gradually appeared, the Kajiu Temple in the field of vision was like a venerable person in the mountains for a long time, waiting for the morning bells and evening drums, rising and falling every day.

The distant sound of bells accompanied by the slow pace of yak through the thick fog leisurely passed by. The yak still quietly chewed the young grass in the morning. At the moment when the day came to light, the snow-capped mountains in the distance opened like a grand white curtain, making people reluctant to leave for a long time.

When came back to the senses, the old man who came from the bottom of the mountain held the prayer wheel and smiled kindly and friendly, and began to circle around the temple every day. I unconsciously joined them in their silent pilgrimage. The right hand continuously rotates the prayer wheel, silently reciting the six-character mantra in the mouth. Wandering on this pilgrimage around the temple, you can take a deep breath of all kinds of tastes brought by the dense flowers and plants in the mountains at every step. It's more wonderful and fantastic.

Walking on the dirt road of circling around Temple, suddenly squirrels swiftly jumped between the woods on both sides. The old people's daily pilgrimage has made them accustomed to them. And the tan birds waiting quietly on the tree start their day's life in quiet foraging, and the colorful birds on a gentle slope are hidden among the emerald green flowers. If it wasn't for the friendly guidance of the old people, I would have missed this colorful mountain elf like a peacock. Together with the tan flying bird I encountered, they turned out to be the famous national bird of Bhutan, the brown-tailed red pheasant. The female is wearing brown feathers, while the male bird needs a gorgeous coat to attract the attention of the female bird, what a wonderful mountain spirit.

Quietly circling around the temple, let me have the most direct communication with this thousand-year-old temple hidden in the clouds. Perhaps it was the longest time that Master Guru Rinpoche spent 7 years, 7 months and 7 days in this practice, achieving the fairyland-like scenery surrounding the ancient temple, but the world outside the temple seems a little desolate. Like the elders in the cloud who are aware of the Dharma, around the Kajiu Temple, there are not only many practice caves of Master Guru Rinpoche, but also the three holy lakes that will last forever. There are also the guardians of the 21 Mount Dumu, which makes the scenic spot where Kajiu Temple is won the reputation of "Second Zhari".

During the stroll, one can still comprehend more than 1,300 years of Buddhist history from the original masonry and wooden pillars. The ancient Buddha in blue lanterns, the stone carvings of the ages, and even the footprints of Guru Rinpoche’s apprentice Langkai Ningbo are all reflected in this bit by bit. Standing on the corridor on the second floor of the monastery, you can see the green mountains that have already revealed clouds and mists. After thousands of years, the magnificence of this mountain still echoes with the most distant Sanskrit sounds for a long time.