7th July 2008 ~ Leh
We left the guest house early in the morning. The plan was to visit Thiksey monastery as it opens up in the morning.
By 6 we were already in the car driving towards Thiksey.
Thiksey Monastery is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery of the Yellow Hat sect, located 18 km east of Leh (about 30-40 mins drive from the Leh city). It is noted for its resemblance to the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet, the former official seat of the Dalai Lamas. Thus, Thiksey Monastery is also known as Mini Potala. Monastery consists of eight Buddhist Shrines and about 250 resident Lamas. Standing on the picturesque top of a hillock, the monastery encloses numerous stupas, thangkas, statues, swords, wonderful wall paintings and a large pillar carved with Buddha’s ideas and preaching, all in a mammoth 12 storied building complex.
Our first glimpse of the Monastery
The motorable approach road from the valley passes through the east side of the Thiksey Monastery's main building.
Entrance gate with golden deer
Stairs leading to courtyard
Further up and we see prayer wheels
And pass by the beautiful gate before entering the courtyard
Courtyard with beautiful wall paintings
Yellow building is Assembly Hall.
View out from Assembly Hall entrance
Entrance
A wall at the entrance to the assembly hall depicts murals of the Tibetan calendar with the Bhavacakra, the Wheel of Life. This wheel has insignia images of a snake, a bird and a pig that signify ignorance, attachment, and aversion.
The center of the assembly hall has a seat for the Dalai Lama and to its right, for the head lama and to its left, another deity is pictured.
Behind this prayer hall is the small inner sanctum of the Buddha flanked by Bodhisattvas, Manjushri to the right and Maitreya to the left
Monk preparing for morning prayer, they have seven bowls with different offerings but on regular day they are filled with water.
Monk offering morning prayers
Exploring the monastery I ended up climbing the roof and the view out from there was beautiful.
One of the main points of interest is the Maitreya(future Buddha), a 15 metres (49 ft) high statue, the largest such statue in Ladakh, covering two stories of the building is deified in the monastery.
Maitreya Buddha is unusually portrayed as seated in the lotus position rather than his usual representations as standing or in a sitting posture on a high throne. As the largest Buddha statue deified in the monastery, it took four years to craft. It was made by the local artists under the master Nawang Tsering of the Central Institute of Buddhist Studies (Leh) - in clay, gold paint and copper.
Monk reading by a window
The monastery complex has a number of white washed huts, which house the Lamas.
We spent a good three hours at the monastery before deciding to head back to Leh.
Last view of Monastery
We reached Leh back by breakfast time and we were hungry. We went to a place called Summer Harvest Tibetan restaurant. It was a nice cozy place that served us lovely food. We hogged on almost all possible dishes available on the menu, from momos, thupka to mushroom cheese pancakes.
After having our brunch we headed towards Hall of Fame. It is situated about 1km beyond the airport terminal on the Spituk-Kargil road. The Museum houses information related to Leh culture, way of life, history, vegetation and animals found in this part of the world. Among other things one finds information on Zorawar Singh, the dogra ruler and his battles with king of Ladakh and the advances his army made in China. The top floor houses guns and equipment that have been seized by the Indian Army during its skirmishes with Pakistan Army. On display here are seized guns, grenades, passports, documents etc. Another section has been dedicated to the Siachin area which has on display apparel and equipment used by the Indian Army in the region.
After spending good time at the museum we decided to head to Spituk monastery which was nearby.
View of Leh from Spituk Monastery
Spituk Monastery was founded by Od-de, the elder brother of Lha Lama Changchub Od in the 11th Century. Founded as a Red Hat institution, the monastery was taken over by the Yellow Hat sect in the 15th Century.
Spituk monastery is a home for 100 monks which reside inside the monastery.
This monastery has an image of kali which is unveiled once in a year at Spituk festival.
Where Kali mata statue resides, also it’s the only place where buddha and kali mata are together.
Monk near prayer wheel.
View of Airport from there.
After spending an hour’s time at Spituk we decided to go to Shanti Stupa. On the way we found these army men practicing Polo.
We spent a good half an hour watching them play. Nitin also made friends with two of them and they invited us to their room for tea. After having tea with them we headed to Shanti Stupa.
On distant mountains I could see - Namgyal Tsemo Gompa
And I had my first sight of shanti stupa. The location of Shanti Stupa is such that it is visible from all over Leh city.
Looking at that I thought - How glorious a greeting the sun gives the mountains!
Shanti Stupa at Changspa, just on the outskirts of Leh, was built by the Japanese Buddhist organization "The Japanese for World Peace" to celebrate 2,500 years of Buddhism, and was inaugurated by His Holiness Dalai Lama in 1985.
It is situated at a distance of about 5 km drive able road from the Leh city. One can even reach here by climbing 500 steps. I decided to take steps instead of sitting in the car. Started climbing the steps and after a while I could see the view down.
There were still a few more to go.
Even monks were enjoying the view
Shanti Stupa is built as a two level structure, a flight of stairs leads to the first level where a Dharmchakra (as in white strip of Indian national flag) with two deer on each side, features a central image of Lord Buddha in golden colour sitting on a platform turning the Dharmchakra wheel.
On the second level there are Buddha idols on all four sides. Buddha on the front.
On the other three sides each depicting the birth of Buddha, defeating of devils in meditation and death of Buddha along with many small images of meditating Buddha, all embossed in vibrant colours.
Sunrise and sunset are considered to provide the best views from Shanti Stupa. View from shanti stupa was really serene. No one could go away without spending some time to enjoy the view.
Amongst the crowd, yet alone finding solace within my soul
We spent time there till it was almost dark.
From here we headed towards the town for dinner and settled into a place called zen garden on changspa road. After dinner we were back at the guest house. I was excited for the next day, as we were going to traverse the world’s highest motorable road.
We left the guest house early in the morning. The plan was to visit Thiksey monastery as it opens up in the morning.
By 6 we were already in the car driving towards Thiksey.
Thiksey Monastery is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery of the Yellow Hat sect, located 18 km east of Leh (about 30-40 mins drive from the Leh city). It is noted for its resemblance to the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet, the former official seat of the Dalai Lamas. Thus, Thiksey Monastery is also known as Mini Potala. Monastery consists of eight Buddhist Shrines and about 250 resident Lamas. Standing on the picturesque top of a hillock, the monastery encloses numerous stupas, thangkas, statues, swords, wonderful wall paintings and a large pillar carved with Buddha’s ideas and preaching, all in a mammoth 12 storied building complex.
Our first glimpse of the Monastery
The motorable approach road from the valley passes through the east side of the Thiksey Monastery's main building.
Entrance gate with golden deer
Stairs leading to courtyard
Further up and we see prayer wheels
Courtyard with beautiful wall paintings
Yellow building is Assembly Hall.
View out from Assembly Hall entrance
Entrance
A wall at the entrance to the assembly hall depicts murals of the Tibetan calendar with the Bhavacakra, the Wheel of Life. This wheel has insignia images of a snake, a bird and a pig that signify ignorance, attachment, and aversion.
The center of the assembly hall has a seat for the Dalai Lama and to its right, for the head lama and to its left, another deity is pictured.
Behind this prayer hall is the small inner sanctum of the Buddha flanked by Bodhisattvas, Manjushri to the right and Maitreya to the left
Monk preparing for morning prayer, they have seven bowls with different offerings but on regular day they are filled with water.
Monk offering morning prayers
Exploring the monastery I ended up climbing the roof and the view out from there was beautiful.
One of the main points of interest is the Maitreya(future Buddha), a 15 metres (49 ft) high statue, the largest such statue in Ladakh, covering two stories of the building is deified in the monastery.
Maitreya Buddha is unusually portrayed as seated in the lotus position rather than his usual representations as standing or in a sitting posture on a high throne. As the largest Buddha statue deified in the monastery, it took four years to craft. It was made by the local artists under the master Nawang Tsering of the Central Institute of Buddhist Studies (Leh) - in clay, gold paint and copper.
Monk reading by a window
The monastery complex has a number of white washed huts, which house the Lamas.
We spent a good three hours at the monastery before deciding to head back to Leh.
Last view of Monastery
We reached Leh back by breakfast time and we were hungry. We went to a place called Summer Harvest Tibetan restaurant. It was a nice cozy place that served us lovely food. We hogged on almost all possible dishes available on the menu, from momos, thupka to mushroom cheese pancakes.
After having our brunch we headed towards Hall of Fame. It is situated about 1km beyond the airport terminal on the Spituk-Kargil road. The Museum houses information related to Leh culture, way of life, history, vegetation and animals found in this part of the world. Among other things one finds information on Zorawar Singh, the dogra ruler and his battles with king of Ladakh and the advances his army made in China. The top floor houses guns and equipment that have been seized by the Indian Army during its skirmishes with Pakistan Army. On display here are seized guns, grenades, passports, documents etc. Another section has been dedicated to the Siachin area which has on display apparel and equipment used by the Indian Army in the region.
After spending good time at the museum we decided to head to Spituk monastery which was nearby.
View of Leh from Spituk Monastery
Spituk Monastery was founded by Od-de, the elder brother of Lha Lama Changchub Od in the 11th Century. Founded as a Red Hat institution, the monastery was taken over by the Yellow Hat sect in the 15th Century.
Spituk monastery is a home for 100 monks which reside inside the monastery.
This monastery has an image of kali which is unveiled once in a year at Spituk festival.
Where Kali mata statue resides, also it’s the only place where buddha and kali mata are together.
Monk near prayer wheel.
View of Airport from there.
After spending an hour’s time at Spituk we decided to go to Shanti Stupa. On the way we found these army men practicing Polo.
We spent a good half an hour watching them play. Nitin also made friends with two of them and they invited us to their room for tea. After having tea with them we headed to Shanti Stupa.
On distant mountains I could see - Namgyal Tsemo Gompa
And I had my first sight of shanti stupa. The location of Shanti Stupa is such that it is visible from all over Leh city.
Looking at that I thought - How glorious a greeting the sun gives the mountains!
Shanti Stupa at Changspa, just on the outskirts of Leh, was built by the Japanese Buddhist organization "The Japanese for World Peace" to celebrate 2,500 years of Buddhism, and was inaugurated by His Holiness Dalai Lama in 1985.
It is situated at a distance of about 5 km drive able road from the Leh city. One can even reach here by climbing 500 steps. I decided to take steps instead of sitting in the car. Started climbing the steps and after a while I could see the view down.
There were still a few more to go.
Even monks were enjoying the view
Shanti Stupa is built as a two level structure, a flight of stairs leads to the first level where a Dharmchakra (as in white strip of Indian national flag) with two deer on each side, features a central image of Lord Buddha in golden colour sitting on a platform turning the Dharmchakra wheel.
On the second level there are Buddha idols on all four sides. Buddha on the front.
On the other three sides each depicting the birth of Buddha, defeating of devils in meditation and death of Buddha along with many small images of meditating Buddha, all embossed in vibrant colours.
Sunrise and sunset are considered to provide the best views from Shanti Stupa. View from shanti stupa was really serene. No one could go away without spending some time to enjoy the view.
Amongst the crowd, yet alone finding solace within my soul
We spent time there till it was almost dark.
From here we headed towards the town for dinner and settled into a place called zen garden on changspa road. After dinner we were back at the guest house. I was excited for the next day, as we were going to traverse the world’s highest motorable road.
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