The Dalai Lama in Dharamsala
At the request of a Taiwanese Buddhist group, the Dalai Lama just gave a 4-day teaching in Dharamsala. Photography was not permitted at the teachings. (These photos are from Zanskar last year.) I bought a cheap FM radio to hear the English translation, and when it was even audible it was overlapped by a Taiwanese [...]
Sumda Chun
Yesterday I hired a car/driver and traveled with a Ladakhi friend/guide to visit two remote monasteries west of Leh: Sumda Chun and Mangyu. Along with Alchi, they form a trilogy of early Tibetan Buddhist temples dating from the 11th century. The artwork of these temples is totally unlike the other Buddhist temples in the region [...]
Kumbha Mela
Unfortunately I was at the end of my rope in India by the time I arrived in Haridwar for Kumbha Mela. Nevertheless, here are a few pictures. It’s not my best work, but still something to be seen. The naga baba with the two European babes is Shiv Raj Giri. I found a video of [...]
Shivratri Festival
Shivratri symbolizes the wedding day of Lord Shiva and Parvati and is an auspicious days for Hindus. In Kutch there was a Shivratri festival at a small village north of Bhuj. I took the bus, always an adventure in itself, and spent the day there. (The only other foreigners there were a guy from Japan [...]
Hampi
The ruins of the Vijayanagara Empire at Hampi are just spectacular. India at its best. Hampi on Wikipedia Hampi on UNESCO
Varkala Puja
Hindu puja (prayer) ceremonies led by priests are held every morning at Varkala beach on the Kerala coast. Families come to do this together. I don’t understand the significance of the rituals, but it was fascinating to watch. And the beach is gorgeous.
Debates at Sera Monastery, Bylakuppe
Bylakuppe is a small town in southern Karnataka that’s home to the largest Tibetan refugee settlement in India. Roughly 3,000 acres of jungle forest land was given to the Tibetans by the Indian government in 1959, and from that they’ve created a pretty nice settlement. Today approximately 14,000 Tibetans live in about 15 “camps” where [...]
Free Community Kitchen
The Langar at The Golden Temple is simply amazing. It serves free, delicious food to tens (or hundreds) of thousands of people a day, 24-hours a day. And the whole operation is run by volunteer labor. The free kitchen is a feature of all Sikh temples (gurdwaras), and doing volunteer work in the kitchens is [...]
Sadhus and Pilgrims
The Sikhs welcome all faiths to The Golden Temple. Anyone can eat and sleep there, as long as they show appropriate respect to their religion, which is easy to do (no drugs or alcohol, no shoes, and no uncovered heads inside the temple). Droves of Hindu sadhus and pilgrims were at the temple when I [...]
The Blind Sufi
Today Mr. Guru invited me to visit a highly respected local Sufi, Rahman Sahib, a descendant of a major Sufi saint who heals people from illnesses, advises them on all sorts of decisions (including the highest people in Srinagar), and happens to be blind. Despite that, he can apparently read people like a book. I [...]
Good Day at Stondge
After the teachings I headed to Stondge (pronounced Ton-day) Gompa, which has to be the coolest monastery in all of Ladakh and Zanskar. It sits high atop a ridge in a surreally beautiful mountain range and has the most spectacular views of Zanskar I’ve seen. Like Karsha Monastery, Stondge belongs to the Gelugpa (yellow hat) [...]
Three Young Monks
These three young monks from Karsha Monastery are truly as charming and sweet as they look. Each has an older monk that acts as kind of a mentor or guardian to them. The monk above is mentored by Wangboo, the monk who put me up in his place at Karsha, and he was often around [...]
Dalai Lama in Zanskar
At dawn thousands of people were waiting for the Dalai Lama to arrive. There was always a little doubt about him actually coming, but then a spec of a helicopter appeared far down the valley and we all knew it was him. As the helicopter approached, people lined the road to his residence at the [...]
Zangla Nunnery
This is Zangla Nunnery, a.k.a. Chomo Gompa. Thanks to two friends I’m staying in Angmo’s room. Angmo is the nunnery’s current Chantmaster which involves a lot of work and she’s rarely in her room, but she has more good energy and charm than anyone I’ve met in a long time. Since my ankle hasn’t healed [...]
Sani Festival Portraits
Portraits of the monks of Bardan Monastery, who perform the festival at Sani.
Karsha Festival Rehearsal
The day before the festival began I went to check out the rehearsal. The dusk light and vibe were perfect and it felt good to be at Karsha again.
Ama & Aba (and one crazy old monk)
First day in Padum and I walked to a nearby monastery. In the main prayer room I saw these old, wood, tribal-looking masks of mother (ama, above) and father (aba, below) used for the annual festival. Usually ama and aba circulate the crowd “harassing” people for donations and maybe serve chang (an alcoholic drink made [...]
Lamayuru Festival
Lamayuru is one of my favorite places in Ladakh. It’s a beautiful village with an amazing monastery set in a totally surreal mountain landscape. I went to the monastery’s annual festival last weekend. Masked dances (chams) enacting themes from Tibetan mythology are the center stage of these festivals and the house is always packed. (Thankfully, [...]
A Great Little Day!
Today was a great little day for me. I stumbled onto a small festival where I was the only non-Ladakhi and the locals just brought me into the fold. The exact reason for the festival is still unclear to me, but monks and nuns from different monasteries were there to recite some Buddhist texts. The [...]
12th Century Meditation Cave
Over the past few days I’ve traveled by bus to Saspol, a sweet little village about two hours from Leh, to photograph this meditation cave. The mountainside above Saspol is dotted with meditation caves and thankfully they’re off the tourist circuit. The one shown here is the largest and contains 12th century murals on all [...]
Sand Mandala
Today I went to check out the creation of a sand mandala at Thiksey Monastery. When I arrived at 8:30 this morning, about six monks were working on it and the middle part was already done. I stayed with them until 4:30. They fed me and talked with me and I tried not to get [...]
Ladakh Prayer Festival: Day 5
The photo above is the gompa’s big prayer wheel. I met the monk at Lamayuru Monastery last year. He spends most of his time in a meditation room (6 years so far) and is the only long-haired and long-bearded monk I’ve seen here. I gave him the pictures I took of him last year, as [...]
Ladakh Prayer Festival: Day 4
Today I was exhausted but managed to make a couple good pictures of people around the festival in the morning, which are included here. Sometimes it’s hard to keep my stamina going. Maybe it’s the altitude, solitude, lack of protein or caffeine or something else. I don’t know, but some days I just want to [...]
Ladakh Prayer Festival: Day 3
Today’s festival included a big chanting march around town at midday, but my photographic interests were indoors as usual here. (I like soft, darker light.) The nuns are finally getting used to me and I’ve made friends with two nuns in their late 40s/early 50s. One has a cleft lip, speaks no English, and is [...]
