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Rongwo Monasty
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It is said that the Rongwo Monastery, whose name means ?center of the Wheel of Time of Immense Joy?, was first built in 1301, the fifth year of the Dade reign of the Yuan Dynasty. There is something extremely solemn and awesome about the monastery, as is shown in the unique architectural styles of its Lhamo Hall, Hall of Stupas, Hall of Avalokitesvara, Hall of Manjusri, and Tnatric, Tuikor and Sutra seminaries. All these buildings have been refurbished and opened to the public. The 100-plus courtyards in the monastery are home to some 300 monks. A series of major religious ceremonies will take place in the Rongwo Monastery in 1998. In the first month according to the Tibetan calendar, a Grand Summons Ceremony will be held between the 7th and the 16th, during which time a huge portrait of the Buddha will be taken out and sunbathed on the 14th, a statue of the Smiling Buddha paraded on the 15th, and religious dances held on the 16th. In the second moth: lectures on Buddhist scripture. In the third month: the Myidan Summons Ceremony. The fourth month is devoted entirely to debates and exams on sutras. The fifth month: all the monks of the monastery will attend recitations of Buddhist scriptures for 15 days. From the 15th of the sixth month to the 1st of the eighth month, all the monks will spend 45 ?confinement? days in the monastery. In the latter half of the eighth month: autumn seminar on Buddhist scriptures. In the ninth month, a ceremony will be held on the 22nd in commemoration of Sakyamuni. In the tenth month: a ceremony in memory of the death of Tsongkhaba, father of the Yellow Sect of Tibetan Buddhism. In winter there will be two seminars, the first covering the entire eleventh month, the second from 7th to 21st of the twelfth month. Moreover, monks in the monastery are asked to recite sutras and confess on the 15th and 30th of every month.
(china.org.cn)
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