Inside Story - Shey
Standing amidst the countless chortens or stupas that are scattered around Shey, I heard a foreign tourist narrate a story to her reluctant daughter, who was refusing to climb up the steps leading to the ruined palace of the Ladakhi kings.
And that’s where I heard about the Epic of king Gesar or Kesar as Ladakhis refer to the legendary Tibetan hero sent by the Gods to defeat demons. The mythical gLing ruled by Kesar could possibly be Shey, the capital of the ancient Ladakh kingdom. Even today there are a few artistes around Ladakh and Tibet who can sing their own versions of the 1000 year old ballad.
Located about 14 kms from Leh, Shey ,situated at a height of 11000 feet is now a small village on the banks of the Indus. Tourists flock by here to see the ancient fortifications, palace and the monastery that houses an imposing idol of Sakyamuni, the form of Buddha worshipped by the Sakya clan of saints.
Glittering in copper and gilded gold, this is one of the largest statues in Ladakh built by the king Senggee Namgyal. The lama here tells us that four craftsmen were specially brought from Nepal by Gyal Katun,the king’s mother to create this deity here . “As they had married locally, they were not allowed entry into Nepal, and so even today, their descendants live in a small village called Chiling ,” he says.
The sun is merciless and I collect my breath after having climbed the hillock where the monastery is housed. A row of prayer wheels, mani walls and chortens fill the landscape as I look down .Several dynasties have ruled Shey besides the mythical hero Kesar and his descendants. However historically, Ladakh came under Tibetan rule around the 10th century when Nyima Gon , established his empire here and built probably a few chortens in Shey.
It is ironic, said the lama I was chatting with ,that Tibet itself was in a turmoil after Nyima Gon’s grandfather, king Lang Darma was murdered by a seer for apparently persecuting Buddhists .
The flags flutter in the breeze while the shutterbugs are busy taking pictures of the valley below. I am told the monastery here was built much later by the Namgyal rulers. The lama tells me that somewhere in the middle of 16th century, Ladakh was a divided kingdom ruled from both Shey and Basgo. The king from Basgo , Bhagan deposed the Shey ruler and titled himself Namgyal or Victorious. It was during this dynasty’s reign that power slowly shifted from Shey to Leh, with a palace being built in Leh. And like any erstwhile capital, town, Shey slowly lost its strategic significance .
“When the Nangyals finally lost power to the Kashmir kings and to Mughals, Shey was abandoned .” There was a ring of finality in his tone .I see the tourists rotating the prayer wheel as they climb up. Shey is now just another must see in their sightseeing list .
TUESDAY, MAY 04, 2010
Creatures of Ladakh - The Kiangs
The kiangs or the Tibetan wild ass abound in Ladakh. We saw quite a few of them near Tso Kar kicking up the dust or grazing around. One particular incident touched us. The kiangs were in a circle near the base of the mountain and I was told by my driver they were mourning the death of one of them.We didnt take the picture of this private moment , but we took quite a few of them as they stared at us before gallopping away
The fleet footed kiangs are seen in herds and there are several in a herd - which can even go up to 300. I learnt that they are very good swimmers and enjoy lakes around grasslands .To read more about the Kiang, click here
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 2010
Alchi - an Inside story
Its been more than a year since I started writing my column Inside Story for the Metro Plus, a supplement of The Hindu . The column which appears every alternate Monday is not a destination piece nor is it a personalised travelogue. It is a story that is intrinsic to the destination or an aspect of the destination that is not normally experienced by an average tourist . Sometimes the stories lend themselves to people, for it is people who make places. Ive written quite a few Inside Stories and yet have posted very few in my blog. So I thought of posting some of my earlier published stories here. This one is about Alchi, the most ancient Gompa in Ladakh which was published last Monday .
As you drive down Ladakh, you see several monasteries or Gompas hanging silently from a cliff or sloping down from a peak. They often look like fortresses with prayer wheels and mani walls built around them. But Alchi is a bit different from the rest. Lying in a village of the Indus valley on a plain, this ancient gompa is neither imposing nor is it full of life.
For a first timer , it is just another sleepy hamlet with a few random houses thrown in, a lone shop selling artifacts and a couple of lamas sitting under an apricot grove exchanging conversations. And hidden amongst these silent houses is the oldest monastery of Ladakh which houses some of the most unique paintings .
The monastery lies in the chos khor or monastic complex of four separate monuments, and is deemed to be very different from the rest in terms of architecture and monastic order. The Gompa nestled in a courtyard is connected by narrow alleys that lead to several small shrines with wooden pillars and walls that brightly display paintings like the Thousand Buddhas and the wheel of life. Looking at every wall with a torch, these paintings do not look like the typical Ladakhi images as we see in the other monasteries .
Inspired by the Kashmiri tradition, the monastery complex was built, by Guru Rinchen Zangpo around 10th century. However, according to the inscriptions ,it is attributed to a Tibetan noble called Kal-dan Shes-rab who is said to have built it in the next century.
A fusion of the artistic and spiritual aspect of both Hinduism and Buddhism is seen in the wall paintings of this monastery while the Kashmiri style is also seen in the Dukhang or assembly hall and the main temple , Sumstek which is a three storied dedicated to the three incarnations of Buddha - Avalokiteshwara, Maitreya and Manjushree. We cannot see the heads of these deities as they stand in the first floor and there is no access to reach there .
The monastery which was discarded as a religious order actually escaped the invasion of Ladakh by Ali Mir, a ruler from Baltistan in the17th century, a war that almost brought Buddhism to an end in Ladakh. While the king Jamyang was taken prisoner, a popular legend says that he was restored his throne after a secret marriage with one of Ali Mir’s daughter , Gyal katun. While historians refute the story, the legend says ladakhis even accepted the new queen as an incarnation of the White Tara.
However ,legends not withstanding, Buddhism flourished in ladakh and more monasteries were built, but it was much later in 1970s the unique paintings were discovered in Alchi, a village that had been ignored for centuries. A lone lama sits guard in front of the main Gompa holding on to his prayer wheel . A Gompa means a solitary place and as I walk past it, I realize the true meaning of solitude .
As you drive down Ladakh, you see several monasteries or Gompas hanging silently from a cliff or sloping down from a peak. They often look like fortresses with prayer wheels and mani walls built around them. But Alchi is a bit different from the rest. Lying in a village of the Indus valley on a plain, this ancient gompa is neither imposing nor is it full of life.
For a first timer , it is just another sleepy hamlet with a few random houses thrown in, a lone shop selling artifacts and a couple of lamas sitting under an apricot grove exchanging conversations. And hidden amongst these silent houses is the oldest monastery of Ladakh which houses some of the most unique paintings .
The monastery lies in the chos khor or monastic complex of four separate monuments, and is deemed to be very different from the rest in terms of architecture and monastic order. The Gompa nestled in a courtyard is connected by narrow alleys that lead to several small shrines with wooden pillars and walls that brightly display paintings like the Thousand Buddhas and the wheel of life. Looking at every wall with a torch, these paintings do not look like the typical Ladakhi images as we see in the other monasteries .
Inspired by the Kashmiri tradition, the monastery complex was built, by Guru Rinchen Zangpo around 10th century. However, according to the inscriptions ,it is attributed to a Tibetan noble called Kal-dan Shes-rab who is said to have built it in the next century.
A fusion of the artistic and spiritual aspect of both Hinduism and Buddhism is seen in the wall paintings of this monastery while the Kashmiri style is also seen in the Dukhang or assembly hall and the main temple , Sumstek which is a three storied dedicated to the three incarnations of Buddha - Avalokiteshwara, Maitreya and Manjushree. We cannot see the heads of these deities as they stand in the first floor and there is no access to reach there .
The monastery which was discarded as a religious order actually escaped the invasion of Ladakh by Ali Mir, a ruler from Baltistan in the17th century, a war that almost brought Buddhism to an end in Ladakh. While the king Jamyang was taken prisoner, a popular legend says that he was restored his throne after a secret marriage with one of Ali Mir’s daughter , Gyal katun. While historians refute the story, the legend says ladakhis even accepted the new queen as an incarnation of the White Tara.
However ,legends not withstanding, Buddhism flourished in ladakh and more monasteries were built, but it was much later in 1970s the unique paintings were discovered in Alchi, a village that had been ignored for centuries. A lone lama sits guard in front of the main Gompa holding on to his prayer wheel . A Gompa means a solitary place and as I walk past it, I realize the true meaning of solitude .
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