rumimume: July 2019

Saturday 27 July 2019

10 000 buddhas Temple Niagara Falls (2018) - Part Two

Dragons, Monks, Buddhas & Elephants.

More Pictures from Last summer's visit to the 10 000 buddhas Temple in Niagara Falls.

There where lots of these metal things where dotted around the grounds. To me it seems like it might be a stylized brazier, caldron, incense burner combination. Different ones had different designs and components. Some had pieces that looked more like pots, some had sections that where closer to a type of charcoal burner etc.

none seemed to be used for anything, they looked more symbolic than practical.

Along one wall was a row of stone statues which I thought could be monks. Each one was different and might of represented different virtues or possibly attachments.I could imagine a meaning for some of them but I can't imagine what these two represent.

Here are two shots from a tall pagoda type tower covered on all sides with images of what I assume is the Buddha.

Next up is a very large statue of what appears to be a mother with two children. I assume she is a type of mother figure and I particularly like the child pulling at her robes. she might be an idealized or representative mother figure, but, the kids doesn't care. The kid just wants her attention, which is kind of endearing. Who ever designed this has spent time with real kids, which is also reassuring. She was flanked on both sides by a brightly coloured, 2 level gallery with rows of statues

The final feature in this blog is a statue of a woman in the lotus position on the back of an elephant.
I believe this was fiberglass, but I can't remember for sure.

There where lots of other things and I have lots of other photos from the temple grounds. There's a few more below, but if you want to see the whole set check them out on Flickr.

All in all, I had a pretty good morning at the temple. It's been almost a year and I feel like it's almost time to make another trip to the temple, especially since it's just down the road. Maybe this time, I should do video. The key would be finding a them or a "through line" to tie the footage together and make it more like a story and less like a random bunch of footage. We'll see how it goes.

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Wednesday 24 July 2019

10 000 buddhas Temple Niagara Falls (2018) - Part One

Pictures from Last summer's visit to the 10 000 buddhas Temple in Niagara Falls.

Since I live in Niagara Falls it could expected that I would have a lot of photos of things in Niagara Falls and I have lots of photos taken in and around the city The thing is most of them are not recognizable as Niagara Falls unless, maybe, your local.

You see, when you are a local you generally spend as little time in the tourist area and attractions as possible. Not that there's anything wrong with tourists or the places they go. It's just that, like everyone else, life is hectic and sometimes it's easier to avoid busy areas.

After all that has been said, last august (just before Summerfolk) I had a day off and went out to take photos and ended up at the temple.

DISCLAIMER: Before we start. I know nothing about Buddhism or it's practices except what I've seen in pop culture, which is probably misleading. My comments are not meant to be disrespectful. lighthearted, but not disrespectful.

There where a few things that caught my eye. Like the small stone gazeebo's (mini shrines?) statues inside. So far nothing unusual, until you notice that none of the statues have heads. It appears that they where made with heads and that they've all been broken off. The first thing I thought of was vandalism. But, none of the mini shrines they sit in show signs of damage,
neither do any other statues or carvings. I didn't seem damage to other things that could be defaced more easily. I struck me as very precise and that's not a quality you generally associate with vandals.*
Then I wondered if there was a faith based reason that it had been done. Some sort of practice that had symbolic meaning or something along those lines. But, with no guide book and no guided tours (of the grounds) I was left wondering.

One of the other things that surprised me was these large statues that have the appearance of being made of cast metal. As I was looking for closeup to shoot I found a crack that showed the are actually fiberglass painted to look like metal.

Maybe it's not that surprising but, it's not what I was expecting. Regardless of the construction technique I like the photos I got.

There was some very cool stone carving which was much more what I was expecting.

The Giant Bell hanging in the courtyard was actually cast in metal (as far as I remember), it had nice dragons and rows and rows of text on the body. Once again I couldn't find anything to give me a clue as to what it says.

Next Time: Dragons, Monks, Buddhas & Elephants.

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Want to see more? I'm also on Flickr, Vimeo, YouTube, & Google+.

*Vandals meaning modern people that break and damage things, not the Europeans we hear about in history. They may have been precise, I.m not really sure.