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I wish I was a little bird
Indian Airforce Ilyushin transport dusting off from Leh Airport(continued from previous blog entry). Doubling back from Phyang village we had time for a visit to Spituk goemba before lunch. Located on the southwest outskirts of Leh, the monastery sits on a hillock just south of the airport runway, meaning it is a place of dual interest to me. On the way up the hill we drove past a few triple-A emplacements, their crews seeking shelter from the noon sunlight under their camo-nets. Parking the car below the goemba we made our way up a few stairs to the temple proper, a path which is typically lined with prayer wheels. The prayer wheel is an ingenious invention, a low-tech automatic prayer machine. At the heart of each cylinder crowds an immense amount of small rectangular paper sheets, each one covered with a written prayer. Spinning the wheel releases the prayer, and you can accumulate the results by spinning, spinning, spinning. Normally though, the faithful will simply spin the wheel as he or she walks by it. You could stand around, hog a wheel and spin it all day if you like, more karma to you. Such is the way of the Himalayan tantric buddhism, the repetition of small tasks generate
a lot of merit over time.
Interspersed among the smaller wheels you'll often come across larger contraptions as well. Huge wooden cylinders that require a bit of effort to spin, some so large that your best bet is to grab hold of a big iron ring and drag it while walking around rapidly. These huge wheels often have bells attached to them, and you'll hear these bells ring out a lot as people walking by will often give it a spin for good measure. To prevent congestion you can follow the same advice we give our Norwegian neighbours here in Sweden; when driving in a roundabout, three laps maximum please.
While hiking up the stairs to the monastery we also heard the angry plop-plop-plop of an Army helicopter doing what appeared to be landing practices. It kept circling the town in large ovals, buzzing around like an oversized fly. Planespotter nerd that I am, I had made an even better discovery; one of the Indian Air Force Il-76 cargo jets was slowly hauling itself onto the runway. This was a sight I did not intend to miss, so the party had to drum up some patience while I
got ready for the show. As the giant slowly made its way to the far end of the runway I realized this was going to be awesome, and we had a perfect vantage point. As the pilot revved up the four turbofans it kicked up a huge cloud of brown dust for a minute or two obscuring the town behind it before finally rumbling down the gentle slope of the runway like an angry bull, thrusting itself into the air, engines roaring as it made an impressive pass near the goemba. If I ever decide to become a monk, I know where I'd like to apply first.
Back to the task at hand, Sonam had already raced up the stairs and we were doing our best to catch up with him, panting and sighing, it was clear that we had some more altitude adjustment to do. Besides the main temples inside the monastery there is also a smaller shrine located further up the hill, and we had to charge another tall set of steps to reach it. The view of the city from here was excellent, you could clearly see how it lies surrounded by dusty and barren mountains.
The path was lined with a multitude of prayer flags, fluttering eagerly in the cool breeze up here. These flags work the same way as the prayer wheels; the flow of air carries the prayers downwind and all their blessings with them. At the top of the hill was a small building with just a few dark chambers inside. Murky carpets were spread across the floor, so thick that your face nearly sunk into it while you lay down in front of the sanctum. Here resides the protector of the goemba (Yidam if I remember correctly), a dark blue statue with the face hidden behind a piece of cloth and no photography allowed. The face would be demasked in time for the yearly festivals only, a common practice surrounding many of the protectors we encountered in the Ladakhi goembas.
The proctectors are normally a powerful form of a more benevolent bodhisattva, as is the case with Yidam, who is really just another appearance of Jampelyang, the Lord of Wisdom, one of three main bodhisattvas surrounding Buddha (the other two being the Lord of Compassion, Chenrezig, and the Lord of Power, Vajrapani). In addition, a host of protectors have also
Merry go round
Standard practice upon seeing the huge prayer wheels, make three clocowise laps and spin it to kingdom come in the process! been drafted from local rulers over time, tyrants and power hungry kings subdued by the wisdom and teachings of famous buddhist teachers such as Guru Rimpoche. Yidam has a decidedly wrathful appearance, a dark blue man with an enormous bull's head, long sharp horns, a crown of skulls on his head and dancing on the back of a large bull with a scepter in his hand. These protectors guard against human ignorance, often illustrated in the form of a person trampled under the bodhisattva's feet. You will encounter Yidam later on in the blog.
After visiting Spituk we headed back to the hotel for lunch. Still no other guests to be found, so the staff were all over us making sure we were comfy in our meal.
The afternoon was spent around other places of interest in central Leh. Just above the city centre sits the magnificent ruin of the former palace of King Sengge Namgyal, a huge Potala like structure of nine floors. The palace was built in the 17th century and was later abandonded and is now being restored. Unfortunately the caretaker monk who is normally there to allow visitors inside was nowhere to be found,
perhaps he went downtown for an errand, so we had to leave empty handed and continued up the very same hill to the small goemba located at its top, Namgyal Tsemo goemba. This small goemba was built already in the 15th century and commands an even grander view of Leh in all directions. Up here we again started feeling the altitude, just walking along a slight slope and a few steps of stairs felt much like running after the bus.
From the top of the hill it is easy to see the scars of last year's cloudburst, a traumatic experience for the people of Leh. Not used to much rain falling at all, on that fateful day a huge rain descended on the city and lashed mercilessly at the city and the surrounding hills, triggering massive mud- and rockslides that hit it with shocking force. Many people lost their lives or homes that day, and Sonam explains to us how they suddenly saw parts of the mountains coming down and how they were running for the hills in desperation. Trashed buildings can still be seen in many locations, just as newbuilds springing up dotted around the land. The local
people have now learnt to fear a new force of nature.
Our last stop of the day sat on a hill on the opposite side of the valley, again we jumped into the car and rode round the city along the hillsides to reach Shanti Stupa, a large white modern era stupa founded by a Japanese Buddhist society in time for the commemoration of 2500 years of Buddhism. The building was inaugurated by Dalai Lama in 1985. The basic structure has three levels and the sides are richly decorated with colourful sculptures depicting events in Lord Buddhas life. The view from here was also excellent. Kay and I also followed the practice of many before us, by constructing our own little, mini-stupa here.
On the way back the guys tooks us past the local marketplace downtown Leh. The city centre is very compact and made up of a small nucelus of streets full of shops, sleeping dogs and honking cars. I'll be getting back to the market
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tracey
non-member comment
Leh
it's a place I've longed to spend time - I'm envious - It looks and feels just as I imagined. i saw sleepy dogs like yours when i was in gyanste - their coats were real hound fur. beautiful.