Bendigo Highlights

We were in Bendigo to see Melbourne Opera’s wonderful Ring Cycle which I will blog about elsewhere. But in the meantime here are a couple of other places of interest. First the Chinese Museum, proper title Golden Dragon Museum Yi Yuan Gardens and Guan Yin Temple. It is a community run place and local Chinese people give talks to groups of visitors and we were lucky to chance upon one. Very informative. Chinese immigrants came to Bendigo in the 1850s mostly from Canton Province and mostly young men because Chinese elders at home opposed whole families leaving their villages. It’s all a bit crowded in the museum as you can see.

Here is a group of Ceremonial Dancing Lions – each representing a historical hero from the fabled Three Kingdoms Period. So colourful!

There were lots of the full length Chinese Dragons in the relatively tiny space. This is the oldest one there, Loong Chinese Dragon It was used in processions at the Bendigo Easter Fair from the 1870s but is now retired.

It has just been restored, but it was impossible to get a full picture of it. Here’s a close up of a tiny part of the body.

There were lots of other things to see including clothes (some incredible fabrics), household items, coins and other artefacts plus photographs and recreations of what life was like for the Chinese on the goldfields. A fantastic jade coach was too hard to photograph. We visited the temple which, sadly, had been subject to some vandalism. And also the very small garden surrounding it. Can you recognise me in the middle?

It’s well worth a visit if you are in Bendigo. So is The Great Stupa which is a little way outside the city through Eaglehawk.

Its full name is The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion. It’s the same size as the Great Stupa of Gyantse in Tibet, rising to a total height of 48 metres and being 50 metres at its base. This image gives a better feel for the sheer enormity of the building.

There are other Buddhist institutions on the property including a teaching and treatment centre and a monastery for Buddhist monks with a nunnery on the way. The Peace Park – Interfaith Gardens that you walk through to get to the Stupa from the Stupaview Cafe and gift shop contains statues representative of the great religions of the world. This is Quan Yin (Quan Am) a female deity of compassion, the manifestation of Avalokitesvara, the Buddha of compassion. Seven metres tall!

And this is a statue representing The Four Harmonious Friends. I think its a demonstration of the Buddhist way – it’s better to resist selfish concerns but to work together to accomplish things you cannot do alone.

This sign tells the whole story.

As we got closer to the Stupa I tried to get a picture of the eyes, that to me seemed malevolent, although the monk who took us through the Stupa said that was not the intention.

This is Ik Oankaar; the symbol reflects the first words in the Sikh Holy Scripture, the Sri Guru Granth Sahib.

Once again, the sign tells the story.

Coming up from the garden the Stupa is guarded by two dragons; here’s one of them.

Inside you can see it is all very unfinished. One of the monks who run the place took us through the main items. As yet only the bottom floor is populated by statues and there are more to come. These three altars are almost complete – you can see the backdrop on the one on the left is still to be finished and the statue o the right is yet to be painted.

We were allowed to get close to the jade figure on the middle altar. Amazingly intricate carving.

This is a close up of the alter on the left of the jade figure. You can see the background needs to be put together properly. The expressions on all the statues differ as they are all different manifestations of the Buddha. Hence calm expressions, happy, fierce and so on.

This golden statue was pretty amazing. It was surrounded by relics of various Buddha saints – bones, teeth, fingernails etc – that I didn’t explore in detail, let alone photograph!

This is Green Tara. Tara means Resucer and is a female aspect of the Buddha, she can manifefest in a variety of forms, her purpose is to help living beings gain lasting ;freedom (liberation) from suffering. She is associated with the active aspect of compassion – i.e. relieving suffering. Every element of the statue means something. She’s sitting on a lotus which means she is free from defilements. Her left hand is in the teaching style which represents wisdom. Her right hand is open representing generosity and charity. Her left leg is drawn up which represents merit and wisdom and her right leg being extended means she has subdued obstacles in coming to the swift aid of living beings.

Here is an unfinished alter. This figure is yet to be painted. Another manifestation of the Buddha – look at all those heads!

There are silk hangings decorating the room. On top of all the walls and covering any columns. Quite beautiful. We were assured there would be much more of this cloth when the temple is finished.

Photo doesn’t do it justice. I tried a close up which gives a better idea about the richness of the fabrics and intricacy of the designs. The colours all have a particular meaning which I now can’t remember!

I think we were there about an hour. We were given a guided tour by a lovely, softly spoken monk. There were about another eight or ten people with us. He gave a very accessible and coherent explanation of lots of different aspects of Buddhism. Not quite enough to make me become a Buddhist but a good understanding of the religion. This is a must see if you ever get to Bendigo.