Luang Prabang: First Impressions
Former capital of the Royal Kingdom of Laos Kingdom of a Million Elephants “Royal Buddha Image” The Jewel of Laos I’m taking a little holiday. Finally.
Kyaiktiyo Pagoda (Golden Rock)
Kyaiktiyo (pronounced like Chai-tea-O) Pagoda is the third most sacred site of the “Golden Land” of Burma, after Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon and Mahamuni Temple in Mandalay. According to legend, a hair relic of the Buddha holds this massive boulder in its precarious position. Located in a beautiful jungle forest region in Burma’s southern Mon [...]
The 8,000 Buddhas of Pindaya Cave
The Pindaya Cave in Burma’s Shan state is home to over 8,000 Buddha statues. The oldest statues and inscriptions are from the 18th century, but the site probably dates back further than that. There are about 70 images of the Bhisakkaguru tradition (late 18th century) that are styled differently than the other Buddha images found [...]
Walking Meditation
A number of monks and yogis do walking meditation at Shwedagon Pagoda. It’s extremely slow, deliberate walking in a state of meditation, and sometimes along a specific path and using prayer beads, like the yogi in this photo was doing. Yogis can be male or female, and they are not monastics but are on a [...]
Me & the Shan Women
Here’s a rare picture of me out in the world. These women are from the Pa-O tribe of Burma’s Shan state and had just returned from Bodh Gaya, the place of Buddha’s enlightenment in India. The white sashes symbolize their pilgrimage. The group included several monks and nuns and they were making a tour of [...]
High Road to Taos
Here are my three favorite images from a recent trip to Santa Fe to photograph its historic churches: St. Francis of Asis church at Taos, painted and photographed beautifully by many artists for its architecture (in the New Mexico light) Ceiling of San José de Gracia church at Las Trampas, decorated with 18th century designs [...]
Apsaras & Devatas
Apsaras and devatas are the two types of females represented at the Angkor temples. Apsaras are the nymph-like temple dancers and devatas are the statuesque temple guardians. Nearly 2,000 of them decorate Angkor Wat, and many more grace the temples Bayon, Ta Prohm, Banteay Srey, etc. The most striking thing about them is their humanity. [...]
Morning Alms
A familiar sight across Southeast Asia is the early morning alms round of the Buddhist monks. The monks walk door-to-door in the areas around their monasteries asking for their daily sustenance. Traditionally rice is given, and today people also give packaged noodles, juice, money, etc. The monks recite some text before the donors, who are [...]
I Dream of Angkor
Oh, the years I’ve waited to see Ankgor! Even though half the world and practically every photographer have visited these temples already, and even though it’s sometimes as crowded as an Asian theme park, that doesn’t detract from the experience of being here and soaking it all up. It’s truly magnificent. I love how it’s [...]
Glorious Alchi
Alchi is the artistic gem of Ladakh. Its temples and stupas are filled with beautiful, well-preserved Buddhist artwork from the 11-12th centuries, pre-dating the Tibetan style that came later. It’s said to be one of the 108 temples founded by Rinchen Zangpo, the 10th century scholar and translator of Buddhist Sanskrit texts. The whole life [...]
Wanla Gompa
One of the four branches of Lamayuru monastery, Wanla Monastery dates to the time of Rinchen Zangpo (958-1055) and shares features with Lamayuru’s ancient Sengge-Gang temple and the temples at Alchi, Mangyu and Sumda Chun. All are located in the same general area west of Leh. Wanla gompa is set high on a hill overlooking [...]
Sengge-Gang at Lamayuru
Lamayuru is perhaps the oldest monastery in Ladakh, thought to be a site of the ancient Bön religion of Tibet. Legend has it that Rinchen Zangpo (958-1055), who is said to have built 108 temples in western Tibet, built two temples and five stupas at Lamayuru. One of thos is probably Sengge-Gang, whose wall paintings [...]
Buddhist Masks
No wonder Picasso loved masks. I think he would have liked the Tibetan Buddhist ones too. The mask above is of Yamantaka, the Terminator of Death, who is the wrathful incarnation of Manjushri, the bodhisattva of Wisdom. According to legend, the Lord of Death, Yama, was about to destroy Tibet, but the people sought help [...]
Rainbow Body
One of the most fascinating aspects of Tibetan Buddhism the way it uses visual arts to represent complex Tantric concepts. This can be traced back to the spread of Buddhism in Tibet in the 8th century by Guru Padmasambhava, who incorporated deities and practices from Tibet’s ancient, animistic Bön religion and magical rites and mantras [...]
Sitapatara
This is the one of the few statues of Sitapatara in Ladakh. She’s from the 17th century and lives inside the shrine at Leh Palace. Sitapatara is worshipped in Tibetan Buddhism as a protectress from harm, diseases and evil spirits. Her hand gesture is symbolic of this. She looks like a female Avaloketesvara with the [...]
Hemis Festival
The biggest and most commercial festival in Ladakh is not the best, but still worth checking out. Thousands of people, mostly tourists and photographers, attend Hemis Monastery’s annual summer festival. It’s unbearably packed, pushy and hot, but it’s still Ladakhi and for that worth the effort to visit. I couldn’t even see the masked dancing [...]
Two Fès Medersas
The medersas of Bou Inania and el-Attarine are two of the most impressive sights of Fès, Morocco’s spiritual and cultural capital. Medersas are schools of religious study and are traditionally closed to non-Muslims, as are most mosques, but these two have been restored and converted into museums. Bou Inania has an attached mosque and minaret, [...]
Bodh Gaya Prayer Festival
An international Buddhist chanting festival takes place each December at the Mahabodhi temple at Bodh Gaya, the place of the Buddha’s enlightenment and the foremost Buddhist pilgrimage site. Bodh Gaya was not blessed with beautiful light or color at this time, and I’ve struggled to like these images I made there during one of my [...]
Butter Sculptures
Torma are sculptures made of flour and butter used in rituals and as offerings in Tibetan Buddhism. They’re made for different purposes and symbolize different Buddhist concepts. After they’ve been “used” they’re placed outside and eaten by birds and animals.
The Ghats of Maheshwar
Maheshwar was another small revelation and I’ll certainly be going back. Named after Lord Shiva and mentioned in the Hindu epics the Ramayana and Mahabharata, Maheshwar is a small, peaceful pilgrimage town along the banks of the Narmada River. Since I haven’t had a very good or productive time at other Hindu pilgrimage sites in [...]
Ancient Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi
Sanchi, a small village in the state of Madhya Pradesh, is home to some of the world’s oldest and most spectacular Buddhist monuments. The Great Stupa at Sanchi is the site’s main structure and was erected by the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka in 250 BCE after his enthusiastic conversion to Buddhism. At its height the Maurya [...]
The Golden Temple {Round 2}
I love this place. Unfortunately I was sick on Diwali so couldn’t make it here then, but went last weekend and still had a great time. To be expected, it wasn’t the same explosion as last year. It was still packed, but no thousands of sadhus rocking the place to high heaven, and the food [...]
30 Meters of Turban
This man is a fully baptized Sikh whom I met at The Golden Temple. His turban is made of 30 meters of cloth and is decorated with the two primary symbols of Sikhism: the Khanda and the Ek-Onkar. Baptized (Khalsa) Sikhs like this man follow the famous five K’s: Kachera, Kara, Kirpan, Kanga and Kesh. [...]
Norbulingka Institute
The Norbulingka Institute near Dharamsala was established to preserve Tibetan culture and traditional arts. It has workshops for thanka painting and appliqué, woodworking, metal sculpture and textiles, and produces top-notch work, all done by Tibetan refugees. There’s a beautiful shop where the goods are sold, a Buddhist temple, a doll museum, a delicious cafe, a [...]
