Tibet’s Secret Temple, Wellcome Collection

The ongoing obsession with yoga, mindfulness and wellbeing attest to the West's fascination with ancient Buddhist practices. But, as we sip our coconut water on the way to mindfulness practice, to what extent are we actually engaging with the religion?

If you've ever suspected your yoga class might be a little watered down, we've got just the exhibition for you.
This winter, the Wellcome Collection's will stage a major exhibition, Tibet’s Secret Temple: Body, Mind and Meditation in Tantric Buddhism, which will demystify the religion's complex thoughts and practices.

The motivation for this show comes from the Lukhang Temple in Tibet, a seventeenth century mediation sanctuary, originally used exclusively by Tibet's Dalai Lamas. The Temple, which sits on a small island on a lake, harbours a wonderful secret: the walls in the uppermost chamber are covered with exquisite murals. The colourful paintings depict the Buddhist path to enlightenment, and are wonderfully well-preserved. In an unprecendented move, the current Dalai Lama has allowed these murals to be photographed for the first time ever, and exact reproductions of these scenes will form the centrepiece of the Wellcome's exhibition.

Assorted artefacts will accompany the murals; scroll paintings, masks, bone ornaments, skulls and statues, all of which hold some significant symbolic or ceremonial purpose.

Come and discover some of Tibet's most mysterious treasures, right in the heart of London - and for free, too.