Tranquil Tuesday

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Barren brown mountains
Winding Himalayan road
Glistening snowy peaks

Tranquil Tuesday

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River Indus flows
Leh's brown mountains, green valley
Idyllic setting

Mani, Prayer Wheels of Ladakh

The Buddhist place their Prayer Wheels (called Mani) in monastries, temples, libraries and sometimes in public places and turn them at every opportunity to invoke the blessings of compassion, protection, harmony, prevent natural diseases and promote peace in the world.

The prayer wheel is of a hollow metal cylinder, often beautifully embossed, mounted on a rod handle and containing a tightly wound scroll printed with a mantra. Attached to the cylinder is a lead weight with a chain, which facilitates the rotation. The Buddhist prayers (mantras) are printed or etched on the cylinder.

Prayer Wheel of Diskit Gompa, Nubra Valley, Ladakh

The prayer wheel combines a mantra, "Ohm Mani Pradme" [Om the Jewel in the Lotus Hum] numbering six syllables in the mantra of Avalokitesvara with a movement. The syllables are carved outside the wheel as well as kept inside the wheel printed in the paper in numerous numbers.

The correct way of meditative movement (mudra) is attained by spinning the wheel clockwise (click picture below) with a certain wrist movement. Inside the prayer wheel is a scroll with the mantra Ohm Mani Pradme repeated 50 times.

Prayer Wheels of Thiksey Monastery, Leh, Ladakh

According to myth, spinning the wheel by one revolution will evoke 50 blessing. One can easily attain 1000 blessing per minute by appropriate spinning of the wheel. It is interesting to watch the little children moving the Manis with the correct wrist movement and the right amount of force.

There are also hand held prayer wheels, called Chokhor in certain places, which are normally hollow wooden or metal cylinder attached to a handle.

Prayer wheels vary in size and type. In Ladakh, it is common for bucket-sized prayer wheels to be lined up on wooden racks along walking paths circling monasteries and other sacred sites, for the benefit of visiting pilgrims.

The Buddhist believe that the prayer wheel is also useful for illiterate members of their lay community, since they believe they can "read" the prayers by turning the wheel.

Trip to Nubra Valley, Ladakh

In the last four following postings, I recounted briefly the experiences of my trip to Nubra Valley of Ladakh with a few pictures:

1. Khardung, the Pass and the Village;
2. Himalayan Diskit;
3. Hundar - Retracing the Silk Route; and
4. Panamik.

I tried to cover the breathtaking views from Khardung-La, the scenery all the way south over the Indus Valley to the seemingly endless peaks and ridges of the Zanskar range, and north to the giants of the Sasser massif, the road from Leh rising steeply to meet the Khardung-La and then dramatically plunging into bends and turns to gradually unfold itself along the meandering Shyok and Nubra rivers, the romance of the Silk Route and the joy of riding in border land areas on the jeep safari bringing out the adventure of travel to gain an insight into fascinating landscapes, villges, people, and their culture.

Mountain road on the way back to Khardung-La
Hopefully in days to come, I shall write more about the rest of Ladakhi regions I visited this time including posting more pictures of Leh, the Ladakhi capital and the areas around it, my trip to the awesome Himalayan Pangong Lake and also about a day spent in the beautiful Himalayan village of Phyang.



It's said all that you feel in your heart cannot be described in words, and all that you see through your own eyes cannot be captured on camera. That stands true for my experiences during my recent trip to Leh, Ladakh.

A view on the way to Nubra Valley

Hundar - Retracing the Silk Route

From Diskit is a sand dunes and boulder-strewn route that took me to Hunder. At one point in Hundar, there is a roadblock for tourists with a sign explicitly stating "No Visitors Permitted Beyond this Point." Only locals and military vehicles are allowed to pass beyond that which is the way to the Line of Control (the glacier that India and Pakistan have been sadly fighting over for several decades).

The main attraction here is the domesticated Bactrian camels found among the sand dunes of the Hundar Village. The Bactrian camel has two humps on its back, in contrast to the Dromedary which has one. The wild variety of Bactrian are apparently found only in Northwest China and Mongolia otherwise.

I went on a short camel safari for about 30 minutes - short, since a mild dust storm began and therefore, it was not very comfortable to continue. By the time I finished the safari and headed back to Diskit, the road looked like this:

The Hundar valley was originally part of the trading Silk Route and these camels were used in earlier days as means of transport on that Road. The villages in the Nubra Valley that I explored in the jeep safari are the ones that fall along on the ancient Silk Route to Central Asia with Panamik being the last halt for the caravans before they crossed the high Karakoram passes.

I found cattle grazing in the broad expanse of the valley. I stopped by to take a few shots of a herd of sheep and goats grazing happily in the sand dune valley against the brown mountain backdrop. It was an enchanting scene.

I came across more military personnel here. There was particulary one I chatted with who hailed from Kerala and his Bengali wife and two daughters travelled from West Bengal to visit him. It was a family reunion for them in the Hundar Village of the Nubra valley of the Himalayas!

Himalayan Diskit

The Karakoram Range (which is at an altitude of 20,000 feet) can be viewed from the northern part of the Khardung-La Pass. Turn 180 degrees and one can see the Himalayas back towards Leh.

The Karakoram Range in the horizon as seen from Khardung-La

Another view from Khardung-La Pass

After enjoying the magnificent views from the Khardung-La Pass and drive through breathtaking scenery to Khardung village, pictures of which have been posted here, we passed through starkly beautiful mountain country side to the Traffic Check Post at Khalsar where permits have be registered and checked. From here one has to turn to the left side from the winding Shayok river.

Shayok River

Then it was a drive for about 25 kms over a narrow steep road to the beautiful village of Diskit.

There was a dust storm that kicked up in the Diskit village after our arrival and I was able to shoot a few pictures both before and during the dust storm.

Picture of Diskit village before the dust storm

Our guest house at Diskit was comfortable and it had a beautiful garden in front of it along with a few fruit trees.

Guest house at Diksit

Beautiful garden

View of Himalayan mountains from the guesthouse

There is a new Gompa being built in Diskit, and it is said that the Maitreya Buddha statue, when completed, will be one of the largest in Ladakh.

Pictures of the new monastery under construction

The other old Diskit Gompa dates back to the 14th century. My visit to the Samstanling Gompas nearby had to be cut short due to the dust storm that started.

Samstanling Gompa

Dust storm blowing over Diskit village as viewed from the Diskit Gompa

Dust storm blowing over Diskit village as viewed from the Diskit Gompa

That evening at the guesthouse in Diskit, I met two groups of French tourists. There were also a few other tourists from other parts of India, including some students and one from South Korea. The evening was interesting having animated conversation with people from different parts of the world and from all walks of life. All guests were served dinner in a rectangular traditional Ladakhi dining room that had some decorated dining tables and colorful rugs arranged in the area. Food was plenty and Ladakhi hospitality was, as usual, commendable.

Ladakhi dining style

Khardung, the Pass and the Village

The Nubra Valley means Ldumra (the valley of flowers), situated in the north of Leh. The area was off limits to tourists until 1994. It is therefore not a much explored area. Now the Nubra Valley can be visited with a seven day permit that can be arranged in Leh.

The road journey to Nubra valley leads through Khardung-La (the highest motorable road in the world) at 18,380 feet above sea level and is around 50 kms away from Leh. This short distance take hours to reach because of the perilous mountain roads, with breathtaking views of mountains and valleys.

Thiksey Monastery

Thiksey Gompa (Monastery) of Ladakh is situated at a distance of approximately 18 km from the town of Leh. The Gompa consists of several levels ascending a hillside, culminating in the head monk's private apartments at the summit. There are a number of other sacred shrines inside the monastery complex. The monastery also has a rich collection of numerous valuable artifacts and ancient relics.

Located directly above this temple is a small narrow room used as a schoolroom for the samaneras. Here the lamas instruct the children and some are later selected to become lamas. Traditionally, Ladakhi families donated one son to become a lama although I'm told this practice is gradually disappearing.






By the time I explored the place and descended down from the Gompa, it was dusk and getting dark, however, I managed to take a few more pictures through the fading light:


An informal chat with a military personnel on duty at the Monastery
To shoot this picture, I had to lie in wait for the little Samanera to fill up his water containers

View from Thiksey Monastery