Much to our surprise, Dehradun is home to perhaps the largest Buddist Stupa and a thriving Tibetan Buddhist community. The Mindrolling Monastery hosts a large college for Buddhist monks and a five-storey Great Stupa. It is over 60 meters high and contains shine rooms displaying relics, paintings of every single Dalai Lama, and a huge tiny remake of an ancient Buddhist Temple that the Chinese government destroyed.
The Monastery and surrounding area was incredibly peaceful. We removed our shoes to enter the Stupa and walk around (clockwise only) to experience the exquisite artwork that covered all the internal walls. It was incredible. The bottom floor is dedicated to a Buddhist prophet and is monitored by a Buddhist monk who prays in the corner as observers leave and enter the room.
Outside of the Stupa are two enormous prayer wheels. Krys, Hilary, and Becky turned one of them in hopes of Buddha hearing theirr prayers for safe travels. After the wheel, we checked out the tiny food store and adjoining clothing stalls that were filled with women’s bras and underwear, seriously. When we ventured into town, we found a store with Tibetan artwork and prayer wheels where everyone found something to their liking. Our Tibetan experience ended with a little Hannah Montana watching at a small Tibetan restaurant where we snacked on some questionable momos. We hopped on a local bus and arrived safely at our hotel after countless stops along the way.
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