Blabrang Monastery
Blabrang Monastery is located in an oval basin elongated east and west, with a river on the southern fringe. Main buildings are arranged at the foot of Beishan Mountain. Tall buildings were constructed near the foot of hill at the center of the whole monastery, such as scripture hall, Buddhist halls and Living Buddha mansions. Small yards with residences for ordinary monks occupy the largest area, crowded on the three sides east, south and west. The outermost part is a Buddhist wheel-turning corridor with 500-odd rooms encircling the monastery on three sides. The monastery is dotted with streets and lanes, resembling a small town.
Blabrang Monastery is centered on the largest Wensi Institute. The Wensi Institute is arranged along the vertical axis from the front to the back from front gate, front courtyard, scripture hail with verandah and towering back-hall close to the scripture hall.
Arranged inside the scripture hall are square grid columns, dense beams and flat-top. Like Sha-lu Monastery, the flat-top in the center rises up. All the back wall contains Buddhist niches. There are scripture cabinets near the back part of the left and right walls; other walls are covered with murals. The floors, columns and flat-tops are all covered with fabrics, tangka (a kind of silk scroll drawn with Buddhist portrait), while sutra streamers hang down everywhere. The space is low, deep and wide, and the atmosphere is heavy; the weak butter oil lamp glitters in the golden ritual implement, giving of f a mystical color climbing the flight of stairs at the back wall of the scripture hall, one can enter the back hall.
This is partitioned into several rooms erected respectively with Buddhist statues, stupa where the remains of Living Buddhas of all ages are buried and the Dharmapala god with a ferocious image. The hall is not deep, but is very high. The front wall protrudes above the truncated roof of the scripture hall. The tall windows are open, but the light only reaches the head and chest of the Buddhist statue, adding to the mystical atmosphere.
On the flat-top of the scripture hall, the second floor is on the height stretching along the left, right and front edges; facing inward are corridors or rooms. The sides of the scripture hall rise gradually from the front to the back, with a strong kinetic potential and rhythm and an extroverted character.
The Buddhist hall is second only to the scripture hall, and is often built on the elevation of the slope, making it appear more imposing. Gild roof small halls of the Han style are often built on the top floor.
In its heyday, there were 30 mansions for Living Buddhas in the Blabrang Monastery, but now only about a dozen or so remain. These are two-or-three-storied plane rectangular buildings with a truncated roof. The outer walls are generally painted red, and only the walls of mansions for eminent monks are painted yellow.
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