The great Chinese Buddhist monk, philosopher and traveller Heuen Sang (that’s how it used to be spelled in our school days) troubled us a lot in our Indian History Paper when there would be questions about his travel to India or to write a short note on King Harshavardhana’s and the monks presence in his court. But over the years the Chinese spelling changes have wrought havoc on our memory. It took some time for me to realize that the temple dedicated to Hsuan Tsang at Paschim Chowbaga, Tiljala, Kolkata was indeed the same monk who troubled us in our exams half a century ago. It was not easy to locate it first time, but people were helpful with directions for the Chinese Temple. The meandering road from Fortis Hospital off EM Bypass brought me somewhere I thought was behind the Ruby Hospital, a left turn from a bus stand through a dilapidated row of buildings to another left turn. Lo and behold ! I was standing before it. The massive gate, doors and everything was open but no one was in sight. I checked back with well known blogger Rangan Dutta’s post and I culled the following from it:“The monastery was constructed far from the city limits, but today the city has grown creating problems for the monastery. The two storied Hsuan Tsang Monastery has prayers halls on both floors and the hall on the first floors contains fresco in bright colours. The monastery was started by Chien Wu in 1968 and doubled up as a lama training centre. A small temple is under construction and so is an old age home. Nun Hui Roong took charge about two decades back and presently trains 10 Buddhist orphan children, who attend normal English medium school, in Chinese and Buddhist studies. The huge prayer hall on the ground contains four giant Buddha statues, painted with bright golden paint, creating a mesmerising environment. The main alter is flanked on either side my smaller alters housing statues of Chinese Gods and Goddesses. But the glass cover in front of the alter makes photography extremely difficult”. However, the blog post did not mention about a beautiful statue of Lady Buddha which stands outside in a circular platform. I presume it is a later day addition. Visitors will love the peaceful atmosphere. My only regret is that I did not get a person from this monastery to talk to. May be due to the time and for dropping in unannounced.

Peaceful quiet and good for meditation

Nice place

Temple is closed now