Glimpse - Your Stories from Abroad

A Tibetan Buddhist monk looks out over McLeod Ganj, Dharamsala, the home of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan Government in Exile, and a large, thriving Tibetan refugee community in the foothills of the Indian Himalayas. The monk stands in the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics, an institute of higher religious learning established by the Dalai Lama, which has been both progressive and controversial in allowing monks, nuns, and foreigners to study side by side.

Tibetan prayer stones located along the kora, or circumambulation path, around the Dalai Lama’s temple in McLeod Ganj, Dharamsala. The stones are carved with Buddhist mantras, written in Sanskrit.

Monks at Sherab Ling Monastery outside of Bir, perform the cham dance. This ritual dance is usually performed by Buddhist monks around Tibetan New Year's, or Losar, and depicts the vanquishing of malignant spirits.

This large figure, depicting a Tibetan Buddhist wrathful deity, is wheeled around by monks performing the cham. The wrathful deities are actually benevolent forces who protect the Buddhist doctrine and symbolize the effort to overcome negative forces.

Ani Kalsang, a young Buddhist nun from the Indian Himalayan region of Spiti, gives herself a closer shave while the barber looks on. Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns shave their heads when they are ordained, and are required to keep them shaved as long as they keep their vows.

Men in a lassi shop in Gaggal, outside of Dharamsala, drink almond milk, which according to the sign behind them, will make them as strong as Popeye claims that spinach makes us. Walking along the street in Dharamsala, snacking on almonds, I was often stopped by men telling me, “Oohh, make you strong!”

In Varanasi, a city holy to Hindus, men socialize overlooking the River Ganges, India's most sacred river. It is believed that if one dies in Varanasi, he or she will go straight to heaven. On the far left, a boat carries a family, presumably to bathe on the opposite bank or to scatter the ashes of a loved on the sacred waters. In the top right, a cow, also sacred to Hindus, peruses freely for food.
 

Pilgrims travel from all over India to swim in the healing waters of the Ganges in Varanasi. Ghats, like Kedar Ghat pictured here, are places for ritual bathing or cremation that line the riverbank in Varanasi. Each ghat is associated with a certain deity, mythological deed, or temple. This picture was taken in the morning, the most spiritually auspicious time of day, when the ghats are crowded with men, women, and children bathing.

In India, the remote Himalayan region of Spiti is geographically part of the Tibetan Plateau, the largest, highest land formation on earth. The small village of Chicham sits at around 14,000 feet, nestled in this breath-taking landscape. Despite the dry, harsh climate, farmers have learned over centuries to coax crops such as barley and peas from the earth.

 

Tibetan prayer flags fly outside of Key Gompa (a monastery) in Spiti. The Tibetan word for "prayer flags" is lung-ta, meaning "wind-horse." As the flags move in the breeze, they release their prayers to be carried by the wind.

Wangmo, a Ladakhi farmer and herder, laughs when I ask her to let me take a picture of her before she takes off her ceremonial headdress. She, along with the other villagers of Salapi, rose early that morning to dress in her finest and prepare offerings for the Gyalwang Drukpa, a revered spiritual teacher, and his entourage of hundreds of monks and nuns. They have undertaken a 250-mile pilgrimage to raise awareness and money for environmental and humanitarian issues. As the group passed through Salapi, they were greeted by devotees offering sweet and salt tea, cookies, and curd.

Lobsang, Wangmo’s husband, takes a break from working in the fields. Lobsang and Wangmo live with their two children in the beautiful Zanskar valley of Ladakh. Like Spiti, Ladakh is part of the Tibetan plateau.

Bhutti (right) and her older sister Tsering (left) share a laugh beside Tsering’s fields. As Tsering painstakingly irrigated her crops, Bhutti took a nap in the grass. Tsering threatened to wake her with a well-aimed splash.

 

A white stupa (right), dominates the view of the old market of Padum, now largely crumbling and abandoned. With increasing numbers of trekkers coming to Zanskar every summer, the new town center is now dominated by guesthouses.

Wangmo and Lobsang grin for a photo. Lobsang, dressed to go into the nearby town of Padum, wears Western pants and a sweater, while Wangmo wears a traditional Ladakhi goncha.