So today was a special day, well every day is special, but this had a few special elements..
I drove up to Tampa to meet Jules, and knowing that I had some spare time before we were scheduled to meet, I looked up some fun (free) things to do....and I discovered that there is a fabulous Thai Buddhist Temple whose name is: Wat Mongkolratanaram and is
located at Palm River Road - an seemingly unlikely spot, but as you will see, marvelous place
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| Offerings (donations) are taped to what I would call a money tree and they are not all one dollar bills... |
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| The amazing gilded altar (well, at least the main part) there is waaaaay more... |
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| The right side of the altar |
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| The left side of the main altar |
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One of the many crystal chandeliers
This lovely young lady was so happy to have her picture taken, so was so delightful
and her sister, Amanda also was charming...
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| The enchanting monk who led us in our chant and meditation-he was so warm and so open to allowing me to take his photo-there was a special essence that emanated from him... |
I was lucky enough to join in the chanting and the meditation led by the monk, a real privilege I must say, makes me want to go Tibet and be around the monks and enlightened ones there..Oh, no, I forgot, I am not travelling for a while, so Tampa will have to be a stand in for Tibet for now...
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| close up of one of the altar pieces |
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| The main Buddha statue which is gilded with gold leaf |
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| this crystal encrusted Buddha was so amazing, I don't think the photo begins to capture how dazzling it was |
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| One of many floral offerings decorating the altar |
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| a whole bunch of gold Buddhas-what do you call a group of Buddhas? and bunch? |
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| The lake on the temple grounds |
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A small offering shrine in the gardens
In addition, there are all kinds of Thai foods for sale in the outside covered area, I didn't get any photos because there were a lot of people there, but it looked and smelled divine, next time, I will be sure and partake of the food. |
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| Benches line the path of the lake and each one bears a name plate, some in |
Thai
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