Reportage Aus Bhutan

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Reportage Aus Bhutan Eindrucksvolles aus dem Himalaya-Königreich Bhutan Vom 20. April bis 08. Mai 2018 waren Rosmarie und ich mit einer kleinen Gruppe unterwegs durch Bhutan, mit je einem kurzen Abstecher nach Assam sowie West- Bengalen im Nordosten Indiens. Ich notierte, was mir auffiel, Rosmarie fotografierte. 01. EINLEITUNG Aus Tibet kam der Buddhismus über die Berge im Himalaya nach Bhutan. Der indische Gelehrte Guru Rinpoche, genannt Padmasambhava, der Lotosgeborene, gründete 770 in Samye das älteste Kloster Tibets. König Trisong Detsen erklärte 779 den Buddhismus zur Staatsreligion. Im 8. Jahrhundert brachten indische Missionare – erwähnt wird wiederum Padmasambhava – den Buddhismus in das damals hinduistische Feudalfürstentum. Im 9. Jahrhundert geriet es unter tibetische Herrschaft. Somit kam der Buddhismus auch in Bhutan zum Zug, ab dem 12. Jahrhundert als Staatsreligion. Darum begegnen wir in Bhutan dem tibetischen Buddhismus, präziser einem Zweig des Mahayana, dem Vajrayana-Buddhismus. In der Himalaya-Region war und ist der Vajrayana offen für magische Rituale und Praktiken. Er nahm vieles auf, was Bergvölker früher in der Bön- Religion ausdrückten. Tibet im Norden hat eine lange Grenze mit dem Himalaya-Königreich. Zurzeit sind jedoch Grenzübergänge über alte Passrouten und Handelswege geschlossen. China möchte zwar einen Fuss nach Bhutan setzen, zum Beispiel mit der Finanzierung der grossen Buddha-Statue hoch über der Hauptstadt Thimphu. Noch ist das Land aber stark mit Indien verknüpft. Wir reisten über Indien (Assam) nach Bhutan und via Indien (West-Bengalen) wieder zurück. Von hohen Himalaya-Bergen haben wir nur wenig gesehen, das Wetter spielte nicht mit. Zudem liegen sie im Norden des Landes. Wir waren vor allem "in der Mitte" unterwegs, auf der einzigen Hauptstrasse von Ost nach West. Zweimal kamen wir etwas in Grenznähe zu Tibet. Die Reise durch Bhutan lädt auf jeden Fall ein, Tibet selbst einen Besuch abzustatten, um noch näher an Kultur und tibetischen Buddhismus heranzukommen. Erste Berührungen haben stattgefunden. 02. PROLOG IN ASSAM Nach einem Flug von sieben Stunden über 6126 km treffen wir aus Frankfurt kommend in Delhi ein. Die Hauptstadt Indiens zählt 20 Millionen Einwohner*innen. Unsere Gruppe unternimmt eine kleine Stadtführung zu Regierungsgebäude, India Gate, Freitagsmoschee, Old Delhi und zum Verbrennungsplatz von Gandhi. Es ist sehr warm, und die Stadt liegt unter dem berüchtigten Smog. 1 Delhi ist nur Relaisstation in den Nordosten des Landes. Wir fliegen nochmals 1713 km nach Imphal. Unterwegs herrscht über den Wolken schöne Sicht auf das Himalaya- Massiv im Norden. Himalaya bedeutet: "Wohnsitz des Schnees". Wir sehen u.a. den Mount Everest und den Makalu. In Imphal steigen einige Leute aus. Waren werden aus- und eingeladen. Wir bleiben sitzen. Imphal ist die Hauptstadt des Bundesstaates Manipur. Manipur grenzt im Osten an Burma. In Manipur kämpfen, wie vielerorts in Indiens Nordosten, mehrere Rebellengruppen gegen den indischen Staat. Darum haben Sicherheitskräfte umstrittene Sondervollmachten. Vor allem Frauen kämpfen dagegen. Unser Flugzeug bringt uns in 40 Minuten und über 270 km nach Guwahati, dem Tor zum Nordosten Indiens. Guwahati liegt in Assam. Auch in diesem Bundesland gibt es Unruhen. Im Bus fahren wir an den grossen Brahmaputra und tuckern zur Pfaueninsel mitten im Fluss. Wir steigen hinauf zum Umananda-Tempel. Hier auf dem Hügel wird Shiva verehrt. Die drei Hauptgottheiten im Hinduismus: Devi (= Göttin) – Vishnu – Shiva, mit Stier Nandi als Begleittier (+ Parvati). Brahma spielt keine Rolle mehr. Ganesha, mit Begleittier Ratte, wird als "Grenzgott" verehrt, als Gott des Übergangs. Guwahati ist eine rasch wachsende Stadt, sie zählt mehr als 1 Mio Einwohner*innen. 2 Am 23. April fahren wir früh am Morgen zum Kamakhya-Tempel in den Nilachal-Bergen. Auf dem blauen Hügel wird die Göttin Kamakhya (= die Begehrende) verehrt. Der Tempelkomplex ist eines der bedeutendsten Zentren des Tantra-Kultes und der Shakti- Verehrung mit Yoni – Fruchtbarkeit – Gebär- mutter im Hauptheiligtum. Die Architektur ist im bengalischen Stil gehalten, von den Bauernhäusern übernommen. Der "Berg- tempel", 1565 eröffnet, symbolisiert den Meru und den heiligen Berg Kailash (= kostbares Schneejuwel) in West-Tibet im Trans- himalaya. Dort entspringen wichtige Flüsse Südasiens. Dieser Tempel, der weiblichen Fruchtbarkeit gewidmet, ist ein Shakti Peeth Tempel. Er ist der Haupt-Tempel in einem Komplex von vielen individuellen Tempeln und verschiedenen Formen der Muttergöttin (Dasa Mahavidya inkl. Bhuvaeshvari, Bagalamukhi, Chinnamasta, Tara und Tripura Sundari) gewidmet. Der Kamakya Tempel ist einer der wichtigsten Wallfahrtsorte für den hinduistischen und tantrischen Glauben. Hierher kommen Pilger*innen aus ganz Indien. Er wurde zur Zeit von Kamarupa erbaut, das ein historisches Königreich zwischen 350 und 1140 war. Nach einer Zerstörung erfolgte im Jahr 1565 der Wiederaufbau im Stil mittelalterlicher Tempel durch König Chilarai. Die heutige Struktur des Kamakhya Tempels ist einem Bienenstock ähnlich. Die Aussenseite wird von wunderschön geschnitzten Skulpturen und Bildern von Ganesha sowie anderen hinduistischen Göttern und Göttinnen geziert. Der ganze Tempel besteht aus drei Kammern. Die Westkammer ist gross und rechteckig gehalten und wird von den Pilgern nicht zum Gebet genutzt. Die Mittelkammer ist quadratisch und enthält eine kleine Skulptur der Göttin, welches eine spätere Ergänzung war. Die Wände dieser Kammer sind geziert mit Skulpturen und Bildern der Göttin Naranarayana sowie mit Inschriften und anderen Göttern. Von der Mittelkammer erreicht man das Allerheiligste des Tempels. Dieser Raum, in Form einer Höhle, enthält kein Bild der Göttin. Doch fliesst hier eine natürliche unterirdische Quelle durch einen Y-förmigen Spalt. Folgt man einer Treppe, dann befindet sich dort eine dunkel, geheimnisvolle Kammer, in der steht die „Matra Yoni“, die in einem seidenen Sari drapiert und mit Blumen bedeckt ist. In jedem Sommer wird hier während des Ambuvaci Festivals die Menstruation der Göttin Kamakhya gefeiert. Während dieser Zeit ist das Wasser im Hauptschrein rot verfärbt durch Eisenoxid, ähnlich der Menstruations- flüssigkeit. 3 Es wird vermutet, dass dieses eine alte Khasi Opferstätte war. Opfer werden auch noch teilweise vollzogen, denn die Anhänger kommen an diesen Ort mit Ziegen, um eine Opfergabe (Shakti) zu vollziehen. Die Kalika Purana, die man am Tempel bewundern kann, ist eine alte Arbeit in Sanskrit und beschreibt die Göttin Kamakhya als Erfüllerin aller Wünsche, als die junge Braut von Shiva und als Spenderin des Heils. Schon am frühen Montagmorgen wimmelt es hier von Volk. Wir fahren weiter durch die grüne Brahmaputra-Ebene (Brahmaputra = Sohn des Brahma) bis zur Grenze nach Bhutan. 03. Start im Südosten im Land der Drachen Wer nach Bhutan kommt, dem fallen Unterschiede zu Indien auf: Buddhistische Klosterburgen (Dzong) statt Hindutempel Ruhe statt Trubel Gebetsfahnen statt Reklametafeln Kleinstaat statt Grossmacht Wenige Leute statt Volksmassen Hundegebell statt Gehupe von Fahrzeugen aller Art Berge statt Ebene Kühl statt heiss Wasser statt Trockenheit Subsistenzwirtschaft statt ICT Sauberkeit statt Strassenmüll Bruttosozialglück statt BIP König Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk (geb. 1980), der 5. König, regiert seit 2006, statt Narendra Modi Buddha Shakyamuni, Padmasambhava und Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal statt Shiva, Vishnu und Devi Die Flagge Bhutans Safrangelb in der Flagge Bhutans steht für die Hoheit des Königs und seiner Leitung in weltlichen und geistlichen Angelegenheiten. Orangerot steht für die geistliche Gewalt des Buddhismus, der in Bhutan durch die budddhistischen Rotmützen-Orden Kagyü-pa und Nyingma-pa repräsentiert wird. 4 Der flügellose, schwarz-weisse Drache symbolisiert einerseits den Landesnamen Bhutans, Druk-Gyalkhap (Drachenreich), andererseits steht er für den Donner, der oft in der Gebirgslandschaft Bhutans zu hören ist und der Stimme des Drachen zugesprochen wird. Zudem stellt der Juwelen haltende Drache ein Symbol für das Universum dar. Der Drache hat nur drei nach vorne gerichtete Krallen. (Nur Drachen, die für den chinesischen Kaiser stehen, haben vier Krallen.) Namen und Begriffe, denen wir regelmässig begegnen werden: Siddhartha Gautama als Buddha Shakyamuni (566/563 – 483 oder 460-380) Patmasambhava oder Guru Rinpoche (8. + 9. Jahrhundert) mit acht Manifestationen und 25 Jüngern. Er ist eine legendäre Gestalt. Zhabdrung oder Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal (1594 – 1651), der das Land einte Tara, die weisse und die grüne: die beliebteste Göttin Pema Lingpa (1450-1521), ein hochangesehener Druk-pa Gelehrter, gilt als Reinkarnation von Guru Rinpoche, Auffinder alter Kultgegenstände und Texte aus der Zeit von Guru Rinpoche König Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, seit 2006 Bruttosozialglück oder Bruttonationalglück Dzong, Klosterburg mit sakralem Tempelbereich und zivilem Verwaltungsbereich Bhutan grenzt an Tibet (China) im Norden und Osten, an Sikkim im Osten, an West- Bengalen sowie Assam im Süden sowie an Arunachal Pradesh im Westen – alles indische Bundesstaaten in Indiens Nordosten. Arunachal Pradesh wird von China beansprucht. 5 Start in OST-BHUTAN Das erste Städtchen, das wir am 23. April erreichen, heisst Samdrup Jongkhar. Das Hotel liegt über dem Ort leicht erhöht. Unsere Gruppe besucht das Städtchen. Im Tempel Zangdok Perli erleben wir die erste Zeremonie der Mönche, ähnlich einer klösterlichen Vesper. Im Tempel sehen wir in der Mitte Padmasambhava, der mit Guru Rinpoche
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