Colorful Design at Songzanlin Temple 松赞林寺
The Songzanlin Temple is certainly an impressive piece of temple. It is one of the most important places here in Shangrila and lots of people come to visit it. Being the largest monastery in Yunnan province and the second largest in the country, it is not surprising that a lot of care was put into building the monastery itself. It was constructed in the 1600s with the support of Qing emperor Kangxi. I don’t know whether Kangxi actually made it here but the Tibetan temple here has smatterings of Chinese architectural style. The Tibetan style predominates here but it this case it mixes beautifully together. By itself, Tibetan architecture can be a little bland often playing with sharp angles and multicolored windows. However the use of Chinese styles here enriches the design and makes it look very attractive.
Incredible Colors at Songzanlin Temple 松赞林寺
I stood by one of the lamasery entrances and I immediately noticed the brilliantly colored windows and doorways. Dare I say that it may be a little too brilliantly colored as if it was recently retouched. True enough it seems the temple is being dolled up for an upcoming festival which explains why the temple is so richly colored. I was a bit disappointed to know that this wasn’t as “authentic” as I thought it was. I guess I can find solace in the fact that there weren’t a lot of visitors in the first place so tourism wasn’t the primary concern in the repainting. Just think of it as regular maintainance for the monastery.
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