A Bit About Koras...

A kora, simply defined, is a pilgrim path which circumnambulates an object of devotion. Most monastaries have at least one kora, which travels around the complex as a whole. Many also have several smaller koras within the complex, and around certain holy shrines etc... To really understand about koras, you should know a little more about the people who walk them.
Pilgrimage is practiced in many cultures, but is taken to a whole new level in Tibet. The motivations for pilgrimage are many, but for most it is seen as a way to gain merit (sonam) or good luck (tashi). Other common reasons to undertake a pilgrimage are: in the hopes of winning a better rebirth, to cure an illness, to end a run of bad luck, or because of a vow to take a pilgrimage if a boddhisattva grants a wish.
In Tibet there are infinite sacred destinations for pilgrims, from lakes and mountains, to monastaries and ancient meditation caves. Specific pilgrimages are prescribed for specific desired outcomes. Certain mountains, for example, cleanse certain sins. Completing the kora around Mt. Kailash a certain number of times offers the possibility of liberation within only three lifetimes. In fact, the three most important pilgrim destinations in Tibet are all mountains.
Pilgrims often organise themselves into large groups, hire a truck and travel around the country visiting all the major sacred places in one long trip. Apparently, pilgrim "guidebooks" have existed for centuries to help travellers find the 24 "power places" of Tibet.
The act of kora is the main activity pilgrims do upon arriving at a sacred spot. All Tibetan Buddhists walk koras in a clockwise direction... this is a VERY important rule... people will correct you immediately if you choose to go against this rule, and anyway, it completely throws off the flow of traffic on a crowded kora. Pilgrims of the Bon faith however walk their koras counter-clockwise, and that is OK too. But they have their own seperate koras for that. Circuits of 3, 13, or 108 koras are especially auspicious, with sunrise and sunset being the most auspicious hours. Most people make offerings during the course of a kora. Kathaks, white ceremonial scarves, are given to lamas or holy statues as a sign of respect. Offerings of yak butter, fruit, tsampa, seeds and money are left at altars, and bowls of water and chang (barley alcohol) are refilled. At peaks, passes and bridges pilgrims will throw offerings of tsampa or printed prayer papers into the wind. Pilgrims also collect sacred rocks, herbs, dirt and water from a holy site to take back to those that could not make the trip, and then leave behind personal items as a sign of making a break from the past. Most koras also have holy art, such as rock-carved mantras, or painted images of buddhas and other revered personages. Other kora activities can include adding stones to cairns, rubbing special healing rocks with various parts of the body, and squeezing thorugh gaps in rocks as a method of sin detection. Many of these activites are accompanied by visualizing various dieties or chanting specific mantras.
~ All that said... the two koras here at Ganden were spectacular! Possibly the most amazing views of any monastery kora! The high kora was intense... very steep, very high and many seperate peaks/holy points. I can't imagine setting my goal for 108 circuits of that kora... but I'm sure it is done all the time. The low kora, while not as physically intense, was equally amazing. The steep hillside the trail was carved into dropped straight down into the Kyichyu River Valley, giving us an unreal perspective of our surrounding environment. There were dozens of tiny stone shelters along the trail, used as meditation retreats by monks. Many spots of importance that we were too inexperienced to find... places to rub your knee for good luck, a hole in the cliff to peer into for visions etc... There was a sky burial site, which we did not see. There was a small chapel containing an ancient meditation cave and several rock carvings, and high on the hill above this there was a giant vivid rock painting. This kora had it all!.........Now you know...........