Ladakh – Jammu and Kashmir’s Buddhist Culture *

by R.N. Pasricha, Source: India Perspectives, September 1998

Ladakh is unsurpassable in its rugged and awe-inspiring beauty. Situated at an average altitude of 1400 feet above sea level, this eastern-most district of Jammu and Kashmir is a desert where snow-clad mountains rise in sheer grandeur. Through it flow the mighty Indus and Zanskar. Faced with extremes of climate, the life of the people of Ladakh, who claim their descent from Aryans and Mongols is hard. Yet they have learnt to live in harmony with these inhospitable conditions and have evolved a way of life that is unique.

The dominant religion of Ladakh is Buddhism, with a small population of Muslims and Christians. Buddhism is the living religion of the people here, the practice of which has enabled them to live in complete peace not only with other religions but also with the nature. It is manifest in the art and architecture of Ladakh. The monasteries, or the gompas as they care called, are beautifully designed and have the finest of sculptures, wood carvings, bronzes, gold and silver chortens, paintings done on silk scrolls and walls and scriptures printed out of hand-made wooden blocks. In the monasteries the devout pray for the peace of the world.

Broadly speaking, there are two sects of priests or lamas in Ladakh. They are known as “Red hat Lamas” practising the original Buddhism. They wear red hats at the time of ceremonies. In the 15^th century, reforms were introduced in the monasteries. The Lamas who belong to the reformed order are known as “Yellow Hat Lamas”, and they, besides other things, observe celibacy. Different gompas in Ladakh belong to these two sects.

The general layout of all gompas is the same. They are invariably built on hilltops. With prayer flags flying from rooftops. At the entrance of every gompa is a verandah, on the walls of which are painted the Wheel of Life, the Lords of four quarters, and fierce looking guardian deities called Charmapals. The Wheel of Life depicts various stages, including hell, through which humans have to pass before achieving Nirvana or the final salvation. In the main prayer hall are placed the images of Buddha or Boddhisattvas as the central figure of worship. A Boddhisattava is a soul that has by its merits gained salvation, but forgoes it so that it could return to earth and help other wordily beings attain salvation and enlightenment. Then there are Avalokiteshwaras, the personifications of compassion, Manjushri, who personifies wisdom; and Maitreya, the Buddha to come. Buddha himself is one such Boddhisattava who returns to the mankind again and again in the course of ages to relieve him of his miseries.

At a much later stage Tantric elements crept into Buddhism from Hinduism and implied the introduction of feminine principles along with the masculine ones. Monasteries contain chambers for the Head Lamas and dormitories for the novices.

As one nears a gompa, one comes across a neat stack of stones in the shape of a wall, on which are carved prayers in praise of Lord Buddha. Such walls are called Mani walls and while walking one has to keep them to one’s right. In the beginning and end of Mani walls are chessmen like structures called chortens. These are the burial monuments of Lamas.

Nowadays Leh is reachable from Manali in Himachal Pradesh. This 500-km-long route passes through Lahaul and a long stretch of 300-km desert with hardly any habitation except for a few tourist encampments, till one reached Hemis, followed by Thiksey and Sey. As one nears Hemis, one suddenly comes across clusters of trees with a chorten there and a chorten there. Soon, the monastery nestling in the shadow of tall, barren cliffs of Zanskar range comes in sight. This gompa was founded in 630 under the patronage of Sengge Namgyal. Hemis is the richest and largest of all Ladakh gompas. Every gompa celebrates its festivals in the form of dance dramas or Devil Dances in winter. Hemis, however, is the only gompa, which has its two-day festival in summer and therefore attracts tourists from the entire world. Lamas robed in gowns of rich, brightly coloured and grotesque masks of legendary or mythical characters perform the dances. A Ladakhi orchestra accompanies these dances. The dances are performed in the courtyard, while the two-storey gompa is packed with visitors. These dances originally celebrated the event of the killing of the cruel Tibetan king Landgarma by the monk. Now they symbolize the victory of good over the evil.

Hemis to Thiksey is a pleasant drive of about an hour. A cluster of houses rises tier upon tier culminating in the chambers of lamas and the gompa on the hilltop. The imposing two-storey temple is pained red and houses an equally imposing image of Maitreya Buddha sitting in lotus position. The gompa is said to have been built in the middle of the 15^th century.

Half an hour’s drive from Thiksey brings one to Shey gompa, standing amidst the ruins of a fort on a hilltop. It was at one time the seat of royalty and is situated in a beautiful locale. In the main hall a two storey high gilded image of Buddha stands. It is said to have been installed by King Deldan Namgyal. On a rock on the roadside, which is a part of the hillrock, is a large engraving of the five Dhyani Buddhas, recognizable by their vehicles and seems to be very old. The other gompas, worth a mention, in the suburbs are Sankar, Spituk and the one in the Leh fort.

From Leh we reach Basgo on the Leh Srinagar highway. In the 15^th and 16^th centuries, Basgo was the capital of lower Ladakh and the seat of that branch of the dynasty, which eventually unified Ladakh and took the name Namgyal. The fort is in a ruined state and the broken walls and towers are hardly distinguishable from the pinnacles on which the fort is built. In side the fort are places of worship. The largest of the three shrines, all of which are dedicated to Maitreya, has been described, after Alchi, the most beautifully painted temple in Ladakh. The central image in the temple is so large that its face is not visible from the main chamber downstairs.

From Basgo we reach Saspol. Here one crosses the Indus over a bridge to reach Alchi. The gompa and the village are almost hidden from view till one comes across an oasis. Unlike other gompas, which are perched on hilltops and are imposing structures, Alchi is a modest-looking structure of mud and ti. But the art treasures of wall paintings and sculptures, which this gompa contains, are superb. This gompa is said to have been built by Rin Chen Zampo, the great Tibetan teacher who was educated in the monasteries of Bengal and Bihar, went thrice to Kashmir and spent 17 years in India. But inscriptions point to its having been built by a member of a Tibetan noble family in the 11^th century. The wall paintings of this monastery, well preserved over the centuries, are remarkable in concept and workmanship.

This monastery which is called Amanita of the North has six temples called Du Khang, Sumtsek, Jampal Lhakhang, Lotsawa Lhakhang, Manjur Lhakhang and Lhakhang Soma. Of these the first two belong to 11^th and 12^th centuries while the rest were built in 12^th and 13^th centuries. The first two are important from painting and sculptures point of view. The paintings can be broadly grouped into the following heads: scenes from Buddha’s life; figures of various Boddhisattavas; figures of Vairocana and the depiction of cosmic Buddha Vairocana in a mandala. One can see various influences such as Hellenistic, Persian, Tibetan, Nepalese, Central Asian and India on these paintings. Yet the style of Alchi paintings is altogether its own. The central figures in the temples are those of boddhisattavas Avalokiteshawara, Manjushri and Maitreya.

Woodcarvings have Kashmiri influence. Costumes of the figures remind one of those worn by Kashmiri, female eyes resemble those found in Jain miniature. The ornaments paintwith precision look real gold asilver. Colours are vibrant.

Then Sumstek is a three-storey temple, which is something unique. The temple has three gigantic Boddhisattavas, which extend up through openingsin the ceilings to the second storey. The three images in clockwise direction are Avalokiteshaware, Maitreya and Manjushri. The garments of these figures are painted with scenes from Buddha’s life in miniatures. The walls are filled with figures and mandalas in such profusion that not an inch is left without a painting.