His Holiness visited Spiti in June 2009 and gave a teaching to many locals who came from nearby valleys to see him. The newly built monastery which was inaugurated by His Holiness, stands on the spot where the old monastery known as Tenggyud Lhundrup Choekhor...
For Tibetan Buddhist monks and laity, artistic butter designs, known as torma or tsepdro, take on a spiritual role. Traditionally made using yak butter mixed with barley flour and coloring they are modeled by hand. Since butter melts easily, monk artists making butter sculptures need...
For millennia in Ladakh the many Buddhist Gompas that sprang up in this extarodinary landscape have nurtured and instructed the inner life for all who enter there. Just to step into the prayer hall of a Gompa is an experience that is immediately palpable. The...
An early morning flight from Delhi to Leh The awe inspiring view from the airplane of the western Himalayan mountain range. We cruise effortlessly over hundreds of miles of mountains, lit by the morning sun their every fold and crease is visible as far as the...
The name “Spiti” means “The middle land”, i.e. the land between Tibet and India. There are two ways to enter Spiti valley, from the southern end via Kinnaur valley, or from the higher northern end of the valley at Losar, via the Lahaul Valley. Here...
The mountain peak is of Kinnaur Kailash (elevation- 6050m) and Jorkanden (elevation- 6473m). Considered sacred by both Hindu and Buddhist Kinnauris and unveiled in all its splendor for us today! It is home to a 79 ft tall monolithic pillar, a shivalinga, located at 4500...
Gompas or Gönpas (Tibetan: དགོན་པ།, dgon pa “remote place”, Sanskrit araṇya), also known as ling ( gling) The designs and interior details of gompas vary from region to region, they all have a central prayer hall furnished with a Buddha statue and benches that nuns...
Chiu Gompa built into the cliffs on a hill on the shores of Lake Manasarovar in Tibet Lake Manasarovar is near the source of the Sutlej River which is the easternmost large tributary of the Indus. Nearby are the sources of the Brahmaputra River, the...
Close to the village of Mulbekh there is a large Maitreya Buddha or Buddha-to-come on the roadside traveling between Leh and Kargil. It is directly on the roadside. Called the Chamba statue some people believe it dates to the Kushan period in the early centuries...
