Himalayan India

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Tuesday 10 June

Pleasant drive to the Norblinka Institute where traditional Tibetan Artistry is still being taught. It has pretty gardens in the Japanese style with little waterways; water trickling out of mouths of stone lions' heads; trees & fluttering prayers flags.

We watched woodcarvers cutting intircate designs out of wood for furniture in both the old fashioned way with a large hand-held fret saw & the modern way using a machine fret saw. Both workers were very skilled. We also saw young men hand carving delicate designs & one was even kind enough to give us a sample of his practise work.

Metal workers were creating different parts of goddess statues which would eventually all be fitted together. Some were hammering pieces into shape; others were filing down pieces for an exact fit; some were pouring molten metal into moulds and others doing fine engraving work.

Thangkas were being painted in another area. Some pieces would take a year & a half to complete.
In another area fine stitchwork & applique work for costumes & banners were being created.

There was an excellent display of dolls dressed in handmade traditional regional costumes & costumes from the Tibetan Opera as well as costumes used in various ceremonies. All exquisitly made, very colourful & informative.

In the large main hall there were over a thousand images of the Buddha; paintings of the 12 deeds of Buddha; paintings of all 14 Dalai Lamas as well as other colouful murals & an enormous gilded copper statue of Buddha Shakyamuni which is said to be the largest one in exile.

We walked around the complex towards the Nunnery & as we passed the creche we were invited in to see the children who ranged in ages from babies up to about 3 years old. They were all cute, very friendly & well behaved.

Jane Perkins, who has been our excellent guide for our 3 days in Dharamsala, invited us to tea to meet her friend who is Pujari (?spelling) at the Krishna Temple at Nagar which we hope to visit whilst staying in Manali. He was a very pleasant & intellectual young man. We also had the pleasure of meeting Duchess, Jane's Tibetan/Lhasa Apso dog, who was very friendly & sporting a green tail at the moment since she was coloured to resemble the Tibetan green lion to support the Tibetan marchers. We enjoyed our afternoon chatting & perusing the wonderful photographic books Jane has, some of which she has edited, before we strolled back down the hill through the market & past the tea gardens to our hotel.

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