Here’s my latest offering of photo art, a composite of some photos I’ve taken in a few of the nearby Buddhist temples. Now, let me say right at the start that this creation is not meant to be sacrilegious. As a matter of fact, the monk statue on the right, along with a half a dozen others like it, has been standing for at least a couple of years in a temple near where I used to live . Whether it was “dressed” by the monks in the temple or by local people, I don’t know. However, it shows the whimsy sometimes inherent in the culture. The monk statue on the left was given sunglasses by yours truly.

I found the big laughing Buddha in an out-of-the-way temple that was half in ruins and overgrown by vegetation in some areas. Parts of it are attended to, and there are also some repairs being made to the main building, though it didn’t look like anyone had worked on it for a while.

The Buddha is not in the main building, but is in a smaller outbuilding, and when you first come upon it, it’s kind of a surprise. After a few seconds, it’s hard not to laugh or at least smile at the expression on it’s face.

I’m not quite satisfied with the art yet, so I’ll probably tweak it some more and post the results here. Enjoy.

Buddha pranksters having fun in the temple.

Having fun in the temple.

[EDIT] Version 2: Made a few changes to the monk on the right so that it doesn’t have such a “pasted in” appearance.

Buddha pranksters having fun in the temple.

Having fun in the temple, v2.

[EDIT] Version 3: I put the right hand monk behind the Buddha to give the composition a bit more of a 3D feel and I gave it a bit lighter look.

Buddha pranksters having fun in the temple.

Having fun in the temple, v3.