Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Ladakh - Day 3 - Shanti Stupa


After touring all the places south of Leh and saying tata to driver, I still had some energy left and decided to go to Shanti Stupa.

Built by the ‘Peace Sect’, an association of Japanese Buddhists, and inaugurated by the Dalai Lama in 1983, the Shanti Stupa crowns a hill on the western edge of the Leh valley and can be reached by a flight of steps (157 in all) that rises just off Changspa.



The climb is most enjoyable. Every 2-3 steps, you stop and turn around - to look at the same picture - from a higher and higher point as you are climbing... The sun sets a little more each time. The hue of the evening mellows - as the hot afternoon white transforms to a softer gold, yellow, and then peach and pink and eventually blue... So dramatic...










The Stupa immediately next to my guest house, by which I had to pass whenever I set out, the very first of the pictures in this post, can be seen in this picture as I clib the hill...Bottom right...













The chalk white Stupa is a place of peace and reflection.





The walls of the dome inside are embellished with Buddha images; on the lower level are 53 Buddhas while the upper level has the master portrayed in four symbolic poses. There is a small shrine outside the dome enshrining a golden Buddha.





Dinner at Womderland - Primavera - capsicum, olives, capers, parsley, sundried tomato, garlic and olive oil. Banoffee pie... very interesting...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The monotony of the photographs, especially of the landscapes, is much more than boring. After all, what is the relevance of such a prolonged narration?

Sowmya Chakravarthy said...

If you find these pictures boring & monotonous, that tells me something about you & your taste. These are my fond memories and can never be too long for me...

You should perhaps turn your attention to more interesting blogs...
This is how my blog is going to be

Anonymous said...

No blogs can be terrestrially imperative. The web is an open space where one can evaluate and commend on the contents in it. It is nothing personal. Of course, your memories are your own. But when you publish it and leave a slot for comments, don't expect only positive responses.

Keep on writing. You have a flair for it.