We got up at 5:30am for the 6am morning prayer service. The ceremony took place in a large and extremely elaborately decorated room with intricately carved rich dark woods and red and gold accents. There was incense burning and a an arrangement of fresh flowers. I noticed that this was in stark contrast to the rest of the temple which was austere, very plainly decorated and all in gray, white and natural wood tones with no color. The ceremony went on for about 40 minutes and consisted of one long continuous chant by two monks. One of the monks was a young man; the other an older woman. They read from a book on a small table which they knelt in front of. It was amazing how long they were able to chant for, barely pausing to take a breath. The male monk would occasionally drum a small gong which filled the room with a soft reverberating tone. When the ceremony ended I felt very calm and peaceful.
The picture on the left is of the side entrance where we exchanged our slippers for our shoes when we wanted to go out. The other picture is of an interior courtyard garden close to the hall where the morning prayer ceremony took place.
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