Leh, Ladakh - From the dense intense madness of Delhi to the spare and peaceful mountains of Ladakh in the Indian Himalayas, the contrast could hardly be more striking. Ladakh, an area within the state of Jammu & Kashmir, is the least populated region of India and is a home to a large community of Tibetan Buddhists, as well as a minority of Shia Muslims. Ladakh is very dry, hot in the sun, and cold in the shade. The vast expanses of mountains in chromatic shades of grey and brown are broken only by the occasional village and the long strings of brightly colored prayer flags everywhere fluttering and tattering in the wind. Buddhist chortens abound, standing outside homes and businesses and scattered throughout the countryside. These simple tiered white-washed shrines built of mud, rock, and clay house sacred relics or scriptures and are left to decay and crumble in the elements, emphasizing the central Buddhist principle of the impermanence of all things. Buddhist monasteries, or gompas, thrive still and are often set high up on rocky perches, and far back in the mountain valleys. Large colorful prayer wheels stand in the middle of village markets, clanging with bells attached to the top as passers-by give them hardy clockwise spins, sending the prayers written on them round and round. Old wrinkled men spin hand-held prayer wheels and hum quiet mantras and prayers. The motions of wind, water, and human activity are all transformed into acts of prayer, filling the earth and sky with fluttering spinning devotion. (more…)

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