Cliff Structures from around the World

Paro Taktsang in Bhutan

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Tiger's Nest Monastery

"In the 8th century, the legend goes, Guru Rinpoche, the founder of Tibetan Buddhism, arrived in the Paro Valley on the back of a flying tigress. Landing on the Copper-Coloured Mountain, he meditated in a cave for three months before setting out to spread Buddhism across the valley. The site became a place of pilgrimage for Buddhists from across the Himalayas, and in 1692 the first main temples were built. Called Taktsang, or Tiger’s Nest, the monastery – painstakingly restored after a fire in 1998 – now has more than a dozen shrines and temples and accommodates a small group of monks. Other monks live in nearby retreats, some remaining in solitary meditation for several years.

Place of pilgrimage

Seen from the main gate, a thin ribbon of white walls and pagoda roofs are squeezed up against the cliff face, linked only by steps and passages cut into the rock and rickety bridges. The occasional small terrace offers the visitor relief from the vertiginous path and the reward of spectacular views of the Paro Valley far below.

Temples jostle for space. Inside, the walls are covered with murals depicting gurus and gods gazing through clouds of incense among gilded statues and altars piled high with offerings of flowers and fruit and butter sculptures. Among them are Guru Rinpoche and his consorts, the Copper-Coloured Paradise, the God of Long Life and the God of Wealth. Devotees peep through the grille into the holy cave, known as Pel Phuk, in which Guru Rinpoche lived and meditated, where now butter lamps flicker in the dark and images of the Bodhisattvas are just visible. Now and then, the deep chanting of monks echoes along the walls, punctuated by cymbals and gongs"

http://www.readersdigest.com.au/paro-taktsang

Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado