Werner Herzog casts his eye over Buddhist celebrations and rituals in three locations: the Indian village of Bodh Gaya, Mount Kailash in Tibet and the Austrian city of Graz. The Kalachakra Initiation is the film’s central focus.

Werner Herzog opens his film with the story of Prince Siddhartha Gautama, who travelled on foot from the Himalayas to the Ganges 2500 years ago, to find enlightenment in the small village of Bodh Gaya. In 2002, Bodh Gaya was the site of the Kalachakra Initiation. Well over one million pilgrims attend this celebration, among them many with illnesses who hope to be cured. Monks pray in the temple, while outside, under the Bodhi Tree, or “Tree of Enlightenment”, impassioned philosophical discussions take place. The focus of all this activity is the creation of a mandala through the delicate arrangement of multicoloured powder. At the end of the initiation it will be dispersed as colourful dust. According to Buddhist belief, the mandala symbolizes the entire universe, including its spiritual dimensions, and represents the “wheel of time” (Kalachakra). The Dalai Lama explains that the centre of the universe lies in the individual. A Mongolian monk declares that all living things are of equal value.

Pilgrims travel to the Himalayas, to Mount Kailash in western Tibet, and walk all the way round it, covering a distance of 52 kilometres. The Kalachakra Initiation is also celebrated in the Austrian city of Graz. In the town hall of the Styrian capital, the ceremony suddenly seems irreverent and nothing more than a Western imitation, something which the Dalai Lama has often warned against. A former Tibetan political prisoner tells the story of his 37 years of imprisonment under Chinese rule. This is one of the few scenes in Herzog’s (semi-)documentary where politics is addressed directly, rupturing the topos of the short-lived celebration and all its rituals with a very different, political reality. The director even refrains from making any personal political statements during the scenes at Mount Kailash (Herzog filmed the area, which is now Chinese territory, without permission and with a small DV camera).

This is another example of a Werner Herzog documentary that discursively centres on the hope that there may be something beyond physical reality (Herzog is a professed opponent of cinema verité!) – a different, spiritual world. From monks and shamans to lamas, it is interesting to note how dominant the role of men is when it comes to the issues of spirituality and salvation in Herzog’s works. This is not necessarily a judgement on his part: men also bestride his films as the destroyers of creation.

A replica of the Kalachakra mandala was also created in Graz. At the end of the ceremony, an urn is filled with the coloured powder and emptied in the Mura River as a blessing to the world. But somehow the aura of spirituality fails to materialize. The town hall empties out after the celebration, a security guard hangs around looking rather forlorn. The pilgrimage sites in Bodh Gaya now also lie deserted. As the winds blow the mandala away, the celebration comes to an end.

Production Country

Germany (DE), United Kingdom (GB)

Production Period

2002/2003

Production Year

2003

color

color

Aspect Ratio

1:1,85

Duration

Feature-Length Film (61+ Min.)

Type

Documentary

Genre

Biography / Portrait

Topic

Religion, Film History

Available Media

DCP, Blu-ray Disc, DVD

Original Version

German (de)

DCP

Subtitles

German (partly), English (en), French (fr), Spanish (Latin America), Italian (it), Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (zh), Russian (ru), Turkish (tr), Arabic (ar), Lithuanian (lt)

Note on the Format

Verschlüsselt

Blu-ray Disc

Subtitles

German (partly), English (en), French (fr), Spanish (Latin America), Italian (it), Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (zh), Russian (ru), Turkish (tr), Arabic (ar), Lithuanian (lt)

DVD

Subtitles

German (partly), English (en), French (fr), Spanish (Latin America), Italian (it), Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (zh), Russian (ru), Turkish (tr), Arabic (ar)