Is it possible to cover the entire span of the Himalayas from Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh as one unbroken journey by road? Yes, it is. And I am setting out to show how it can be done, starting January 29, 2010. And I will drive for approximately 120 days.
Billed to be a trip never done before (certainly not in recorded memory), the journey will stretch from the western border of the Indian Himalayas in Kashmir to the eastern end in Arunachal Pradesh. It will also go through Ladakh, Lahaul Spiti, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, West Bengal, Assam, Nagaland and Manipur.
The journey has been made possible with sponsorships from TripAdvisor.in and Yatra.com. Keen to know more about the trip? Click here…
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The longest and most interesting dance at the Hemis Festival depicts the eight forms of Padmasambhava, or Guru Rinpoche, who is credited with establishing Buddhism as the religion of the people of Tibet and Ladakh in the eight century A.D.
[Click on any image for a larger view] [continue reading…]
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By the ninth century A.D., the rise of Buddhism at the expense of the Bon religion prompted the Bon King of Tibet, Langdarma, to prosecute Buddhists; monks were forced to shed their robes while they saw their monasteries being dismantled. In frustration, a powerful monk Palji Dorge came dancing dressed in a wide brimmed black hat, high boots and silk brocade costumes and assassinated the king with an arrow in Lhasa.
[Click on any image for a larger view] [continue reading…]
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I am sure I have been present at monasteries around lunch time, but only at Karsha monastery did I hear a conch being blown informing all the resident lamas, about 120 in all, it was time for the meals.
The 11th century monastery was built by Buddhist master Zanskar Lotsawa Phakpa Sherab who introduced Buddhism to this valley. Its thirty building, constructed in a cascade style along a hill face, have come up over the centuries and not all at one go. He was followed by other masters like Tungpa gyaltsa Pa, Thapuwa Dhamcheu Gyaltsen and Dupkhang Guelek Gyatso who established Karsha a major scholastic centre of Buddhist studies. [continue reading…]
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All through the summers, dozens of women take up spots on the pavements of the main bazaar of Leh to sell vegetables. One look at these and you will be surprised how fresh and healthy the vegetables look. Where do they get such high quality supplies in a high altitude desert like Ladakh?
Surprise!! They grow these themselves. In nearby villages. Without making an effort, these vegetables are better than the ones with the fanciest organic markings all over the world. Reason? Fertiliser use is very low. And the fields are usually used for only one crop a year, giving the soil plenty of time to get its nutrients back. Tough to grow anything when temperatures go 30 degrees below zero, right? [continue reading…]
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When a seven year old lama cries for his family, how do the senior lamas handle it? They give him a sweet to pacify him. If that does not work, a little whack behind the ear certainly does.
[Click on the images for a larger view]
Jigmet and the other lamas, all in their late teens to the early twenties, at the Hemis monastery were laughing when they gave me this answer. However, I got a more philosophical answer from His Holiness, the XII Gyalwang Drukpa, who believes in taking a long term view of what is good for the person. And knowing that the bonds of love are stronger than any iron chains. [continue reading…]
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What would you think when a girl in the third grade says she wants to be a cop when she grows up? And this sounds interestingly ambitious when this girl lives in the small town of Padum in the Zanskar valley in Ladakh, a full day’s drive away from the nearest urban settlement of Kargil. That’s Zarina for you (with the yellow headscarf in the picture).
I got chatting with her while walking around Padum on a July 2008 evening. She was coming back from the mosque (she is Muslim) after offering evening prayers, and going back home with a group of three other girls, all of the same age group. Actually she started the conversation with a “Hello” and a big smile. Both her smile and ability to address a stranger like this were charming in themselves. My reply of a “Hello” was followed with a “How are you” from her. After saying “I am fine,” I decided to pursue the conversation in English and asked the name of her school. And suddenly she was embarrassed and could not reply; maybe her vocabulary did not cover my words, or my accent was the problem, or she just decided to feel shy suddenly. [continue reading…]
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Many Buddhist monasteries in the Ladakh and Tibetan regions have a tradition of annual festivals, going back hundreds of years. They are usually dance spectacles with colourful costumes and masks adorned by the lamas (monks) for the occasion. Solemn ceremonies in their own way, it borders on the amusing when you see them practicing leading up to the big day. Like I was witness to at the Phiyang Monastery near Leh in July 2008 a few days before their festival.
For one, it was an opportunity to see the lamas let their guard down away from public eye and behave just like lesser mortals; they were practising in an area usually not open to outsiders. Before I witnessed these sessions, the image of a lama came across as someone who smiled but did not laugh, one who spoke but did not talk too much and one who always seemed a bit serious about everything. [continue reading…]
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A sign seen at a Muslim village from Zanskar to Kargil in Ladakh
A major concern of the Buddhist Ladakhis is the population increase by Muslims in Ladakh, where the latter are in a minority, as part of a plan to disrupt the existing demographic patterns. If true, the consequences could be socio-economic as well as political in nature. This worrying aspect came to my attention when locals in Ladakh told me what I have written here.
And for those indulging in such practices, the law helps them too: in India, polygamy for Muslims is allowed but not for other communities. As a result, large Muslim families are not a surprise with each wife bearing more than a couple of children. The Buddhists feel Muslims are spreading their influence in the mostly Buddhist areas of Ladakh by consciously having many more children – some men have been said to father over 20 – and buying property. The Buddhists believe the money to buy such property and support large families comes from the rich benefactors in the Middle East. [continue reading…]
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One of the surprises in Ladakh was the sight of workers at road building projects all the way from the states of Bihar and Jharkhand in the northern plains of India. Workers from these two states are known to be migratory in nature, going across to all parts of the country in search of employment. But coming to the cold, high altitude desert region is another thing.
All across the Indian Himalayas, it is common to see road construction activity going on; these include new roads, repair and expansion of existing ones and building of tunnels. Often contracted to private companies, they tend to get the cheapest labour to work for them to keep costs down. Hence the reliance on these migratory workers. [continue reading…]
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The Indus river evokes memories of history lessons from school as one of the earliest human civilizations came up along its banks in the plains of the Indian subcontinent. Captured here are some images of the river near Leh in Ladakh at different times of the evening, including the moment when the moon was rising above it.
Click here to view the full set on Flickr. The images of the streams were taken in the forested area along its banks. You may email me should you want to order any prints, or visit the Kunzum Gallery to see more prints to order.
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According to a senior and responsible army officer posted at the Siachen glacier, a point of conflict between India and Pakistan, the town of Leh in Ladakh sees the local residents getting violent twice a year on average. The issue: When a Muslim decides to, or already has, marry a Buddhist.
And this sentiment was echoed in many parts of Ladakh. In the town of Padum in the Zanskar Valley, a young student named Ghulam Ali Baig told me Muslim – Buddhist marriages are virtually unheard of. When couples do decide to go in for such inter-religion marriages, their only option it to quietly run away to another place like Leh or Jammu where no one knows them. The only mixed couple living in Padum are Ghulam’s own grandparents: his grandfather is Muslim. But that was many years ago when society was more moderate according to him. [continue reading…]
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Buddhist monks (lamas) are supposed to be in their robes all the time, even when they are allowed breaks for some leisure. The exception is when they are in Srinagar, the capital of the disputed Indian Himalayan state of Jammu and Kashmir; if they are identified as lamas, there is the fear of being shot by Muslims. As a rule, they have to be in regular clothes when visiting Srinagar.
This was told to me by Rigzen, a 20-year old lama posted at the Chamba Statue of the Maitreya Buddha in Mulbeck, a 75 minute drive from Kargil when going to Leh. If what he said is true, it just goes on to show how violent elements do not spare even practitioners of a peace loving religion like Buddhism. [continue reading…]
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If you drive through Ladakh in the summers, or at least in the month of July, you will see trees all over laden with the yellow apricot fruit, mostly ripe to eat. A restaurant in Khaltse does not have desserts on its menu, but the manager will point to the apricot tree under which you are served your meals and suggest you pluck these after for a sweet taste. You will also find children on roads going through villages waving to cars to stop to buy the ripe fruit they have carefully picked trees for customers.
[See more images of the Apricot Man on Flickr by clicking here.]
But the one set of apricots to catch my attention more than any other were those being collected by an old man by the highway roadside a little after Biamah on the Leh – Kargil route via Batalik. Sitting hunched over, with tattered clothes and a Tibetan cap, his bloodshot eyes caught my eyes more than the rest of his condition, wrinkles and grey hair. [continue reading…]
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When you drive from Leh to Kargil in the Ladakh region of the Indian Himalayan state of Jammu and Kashmir, there is a distinct change in the ‘humanscape’ from predominantly Buddhist to largely Muslim. Being a troubled state, and its close proximity to Pakistan, you are never sure what to expect from the people of this region.
[Click on any of these images to see the full set on Flickr. Or click here. You can also order prints by sending a mail to ajay@ajayjain.com]
It took just a group of children to shatter any stereotyped apprehensions when I stopped at a village about 30 kilometers before Kargil to take some pictures; as I stood with my camera, a group of small boys and girls surprisingly came up to me with a gift of a bunch of peas freshly taken from their fields. And I realized it is moments like these in one’s lives that suddenly make the world so much a beautiful place. [continue reading…]
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Boys will be boys, even when they are being groomed to be Buddhist Lamas. When I started taking pictures of some young Lamas at the Karsha Monastery located near the town of Padum in the Zanskar Valley (in the Ladakh region of the Indian Himalayan state of Jammu & Kashmir), not only did they start posing specially for the camera, they also started jostling to be in the camera frame exclusively. It led to a bit of friendly bashing, adding to the fun of the afternoon while I was there. Boys will remain boys. [continue reading…]
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Zanskar
I have just come back from Ladakh (in the Indian Himalayas) which I would describe as the trip of a lifetime. I was on the road for 23 days, and personally drove over 4,000 kms (about 2,500 miles) during this period. Yes, the best way to enjoy this region is to drive yourself. A rugged vehicle is a pre-requisite though.
In the coming days and weeks, I will be sharing stories, experiences and pictures of my trip on this blog. Do watch out for the same. In the meantime, to give you an idea where all I went, this was itinerary: (The figure before each location is the day number. Example: 3 indicates day 3). [continue reading…]
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