Buddha Tooth Relic Temple

I may not have seen any tooth inside Chinatown’s Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, but it didn’t matter. This was the most elaborate temple I’d stepped into in Singapore. The building was huge while inside I lost count of the number of Buddha statues that festooned the walls.

The business of religion

The best maintained buildings in Puducherry were both the churches and the main temples.

Puducherry’s Ganesh Temple radiated in all its grandeur as if it had recently been painted every colour of the rainbow. Inside was more eye-popping than the exterior. As I wandered the perimeter ogling at the freezes, a queue waited to enter the inner sanctuary for blessings.

Vietnamese devotion

I’d observed Vietnamese devotion on many occasions. When I visited a shrine dedicated to eight women who were trapped in a cave after U.S. bombing, I was moved by the way the Vietnamese remembered these women who had been building a road.

Buddhas, Buddhas and more Buddhas

Linh Buu Temple on the outskirts of Dalat seemed to be filled with sitting, standing or reclining Buddhas.

Over temple grounds

 

I walked from Con Son heading towards the cemetery past cows grazing by the side of the road, papaya trees and even a field or corn. Before I arrived at the cemetery’s entrance, I was distracted by a temple.