January 13. 2016 -Bodhgaya, Bihar, India
Today His Holiness the Gyalwang Karmapa visited the Mahabodhi Stupa in Bodhgaya. After meeting with the head monk and the main secretary of the temple, the Karmapa walked down the main staircase and under the first gate draped in garlands of bright orange marigolds.
Led by the Nyingma Khentrul Gyangkhang Rinpoche and other Nyingma khenpos, the Karmapa passed by thousands of disciples from East and West who had come to participate in this twenty-seventh Nyingma Prayer Festival. Their offerings of white scarves and flowers lined the path into the main temple where the Karmapa offered his prostrations and prayers along with lamps and robes to the radiant statue of the Buddha.
the Karmapa walked outside the temple to the main altar for the festival, filled with offerings and beautiful tormas. Here the Karmapa offered a mandala and prayers and then continued to give katas and butter lamps to altars around the main stupa, which were dedicated to two revered lamas of the Nyingma lineage who had recently passed away: the sixth head of the Nyingma lineage, Kyabje Taklung Tsetrul Rinpoche, and the great siddha, Kyabje Chatral Rinpoche. Finally, to a series of images depicting the reincarnations of Kyabje Drupwang Penor Rinpoche, the Karmapa offered a kata and butter lamps before making the return trip to Tergar Monastery.
