Leh - April 26-29

Photo in front of the doors to the protectors shrine at HEMIS monastery. A young monk opened these doors and showed us around... a very sacred space.

Photos (Above and Below) from Hemis Monastery, which is open to tourists... but when we visited there were only a couple of monks... all others were in LEH for the big event; and it was pre-tourist season.

Photos: (Below) Buddhist temple in LEH during an auspicious event; and (Bottom)from the top of the monastery above the town.

Leh is beautiful. We spent the days trekking and visiting monasteries. For one day we hired a driver who took us to four monasteries, all within a 40km radius of Leh. We trekked up to the monastery just above Leh.

During our stay there was a convocation of the monks from all of the outlying monasteries - so they all converged on the Temple in Leh, including the novices. There were hundreds of purple/saffron clad buddhists all around. The temple square and building were full! We sat with the townspeople listening to chanting and watching the ceremonies.

Mindful Moment: I watched two teenage novices flex and compare biceps... they were taking a mindfulness break from the rigors of the ceremonies. I laughed to see this typical teenager interaction.

Since there were only a few caretaker monks at each monastery we saw them in a quiet time. It was pre-tourist, and nobody home! At Leh we talked with the one monk who was left up there... he blessed our prayer shawls and took us into the room of the protectors. It was dark, cool, and quiet... with all of the dieties adorned with offering shawls and gifts.

Most of the monasteries had the sacred spaces closed in the absence of the daily routines. At Hemis we found another monk in his mid-twenties who opened the protectors' room for us (with a key that was at least 12" long and weighed about a pound. He told us that he had been at the monastery for 22 years (looked about 25). He broke the rule about flash photos and let us take pictures inside... the wall paintings are 700-800 years old... they are beautiful and bright!

At every monastery we worked our way to the top.... where the prayer flags are flying.

At Leh, when the daily ceremonies ended the young novices took off running for the gate just like school kids do at home... all bright colors flying around. I caught some of them in a photo.

One afternoon, we watched a procession of about 80 buddhists doing a Leh version of the 10K race. In this case, with the purpose of solidarity with Tibetans, (after the latest Chinese interventions (ahem)) they traveled 10Km doing prostrations (in buddhist form). Their ages ranged from teenage to about 70... all moving like a caterpillar with 80 legs... and chanting every step of the way. They had left the starting point monastery the day before and were just finishing in Leh at the temple. The Indian Army had an escort behind them... all peaceful and respectful. They ended in the courtyard of the temple... it was quite a spectacle for us (again the ONLY two westerners in view). No photos of this... it seemed disrespectful to me... they were all dirty and tired after this long journey. I was amazed at the devotion, strength and stamina of these people.