Leh. Shanti-Shanti
Did you notice a big white stupa at the distance on some of the photos from the last story? It can be spotted from virtually anywhere, one does not need to climb higher for that. Though why not climbing? This is the view of it from guest house’s roof.
Of course, one can climb to the stupa itself as well. During the very first days I was waiting for the weather to become better so that I would get warm and go out for a walk. But during the last days I was waiting for it to become foggy and little bit cold again. I wanted to portray mountains roped by fog and the clothes to wear did not really matter.
Finally there was such kind of a day.
What would scare a lot the person who’s not yet adopted to thin air, was only an entertaining obstacle for the person who’s spent two weeks in Ladakh already.
I was running much forward my friends who had just arrived and barely breathing on these steep ascents.
As I think the photographer was to be faster and more enduring than his fellow travellers. The photographer always needs 15 minutes extra to take a picture of everything he would like to. Sometimes even what a non-photographer would not even look at.
And where an ordinary fellow traveller would spend 30 seconds only taking picture of oneself on the background with the help of any person passing by the photographer can spend much more time trying to get correct exposition and shutter speed.
Buddhist photographer can also use the time won for a short meditation in a small gompa near the stupa.
The stupa itself is called Shanti and belongs to Japanese buddhism. I was told about this by Boris Erokhine whom I encountered few times during the last year in the most amazing places. But I could have guessed that myself as well just from plentiful hieroglyphs.
Japanese stupas differ from tibetan ones with abundance of colour decorations and especially smooth shape.
Buddhist stupas are one of most photogenic objects. Pictures with them would look nice regardless the weather: either it is sunny, or cloudy, or raining or even, why not, snowing.
The only thing is that regardless the temperature you would never be allowed to walk around these stupas with shoes on. Therefore if you are going to the buddhist statue or stupa at a cold weather you should always take warm socks or special soft slippers with you. The cold which you can catch from waking barefooted on cold stones can easily be seen as so called purification of non-virtuous karma but it won’t be worse if one just avoids it.
The platform around Shanti is not fenced. Not even a tiny border. Some tourists hold hands and are touchingly afraid to approach the edge.
As it usually is, there is a normal road up to here and one can come by taxi or bike.
Otherwise how would local monks be surviving?
In the end, knowing that I’m going to run down two times faster than my fellow travellers anyway I let myself stay near the flowers.
Flowers, stupas and Himalayas. In one of the books Roerichs wrote that during some unfavorable times one does not need to be born as a human, pure souls can wait through in the form of flowers. And why not? It’s so easy to believe it.
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March 20, 2009 1:41 pm
By Andrej, May 9, 2009 @ 11:15 am
Actually this stupa is built in Indian style, just as most of other shanti stupas. It has just a few Japanese details (like insriptions and some of the buddha statues) added to it. The Shanti (shanti meaning peace in sanskrit) Stupas were started by a Japanese Dharma Master by name Guruji who spent much time in India since 50’s and they are built in order to advance world peace and prosperity. Most of the Shanti stupas follow the style of the stupas built in India at the time of King Ashoka or some later styles like that during the reign of Pala dynasty. In Japan most common form of a stupa is wooden pagoda, or a combination of pagoda and stupa which appears like a roofed stupa, there are also smaller stupas built up with the shapes representing five elements (space, air, water, fire and earth).
By Leo Golan, May 9, 2009 @ 11:50 am
@Andrej,
Thank you for your comment!
By karla@sell mobiles for cash, January 4, 2010 @ 9:46 pm
I agree with this information, girls do have lots of stuff in their back packs whenever they go out for travel.