GOASIAPLUS January 2017

Sacred Sites
Ladakh, India
Everyone's heard of Mumbai or Chennai... but what about
Ladakh? While lesser known, it is just as magnificent,
due to the awe-inspiring landscape of valleys flanked by
mountains that stretch from Kunlun to the Himalayas to
the south. Amidst this natural majesty, lies a wealth of
religious heritage that is closely entwined with the roots of
Buddhism.
An outstanding demonstration of this fact is Thiksey
Gompa, a picturesque Buddhist monastery consisting of
layered Tibetan-style buildings that contain shops, a school,
restaurant and even a hotel. There's also a museum which
displays fascinating Tantric artifacts like a wine-vessel
fashioned from a human skull, and a prayer chamber in the
main 'gompa' (Tibetan for meditation room) that is home to
a 14m-high Buddha statue. In the morning, it's common for
tourists to flock the monastery as over 40 monks gather for
morning prayers, which last for 2 hours.
It should come as no surprise that Thiksey is not the
only photogenic monastery around these parts. Hemis
Gompa, the spiritual center of Ladakh's Drukpa Buddhists,
cuts a dramatic figure, what with its setting within a misty
valley and vibrant, detailed timbers. Purportedly, documents
proving Jesus' visit to Kashmir were found here, but they
have since vanished into thin air. What has remained is
a museum exhibiting religious treasures alongside more
peculiar acquisitions like skull vessels and tiger skins.
FROM TOP The colourful
structure of the Hemis
Gompa; The Thiksey
Gompa, the largest
monastery in Ladakh.
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