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Central Ladakh: the Cultural
Heartland
The geographical
backbone of Ladakh, the Inuds Valley, particularly from Upshi down to
Khalatse, is also the region's historic heartland. All the major sites
connected with the former kingdom's dynastic history are here, starting with
Leh, the capital city since the early 17th century when Sengge Namgyal built
its nine-storey palace. A few kilometers up the Indus is Shey, the most
ancient capital, with its palace and temples, their vibrantly coloured
murals cleaned and restored in the mid - 1980's. Down river, Basgo, right on
the road and Tingmosgang, a short way up a side-valley, both served as
capital cities when the country was temporarily divided into two parts in
the 15th century, and both have the remains of forts and temples dating from
the period of their brief glory. Stok, just across the river from Leh, is
the village with which the deposed royal family was compensated for the loss
of its throne. Its palace houses a museum of artifacts associated with the
dynasty, and there is also a small gompa.
Partly as a result of
royal patronage, the central area of Ladakh has the greatest concentration
of major gomps. Of the twelve situated on or near the Indus, the is
Lamayuru, believed to have been a sacred site for the pre-Buddhist religion
known as Bon. Phiyang, Hemis and Chemrey were all founded under the direct
partonage of members of the ruling Namgyal dynasty. Phiyang represents an
act of penance by the 16th century King Tashi Namgyal for the violence and
treachery by which he reached the throne. Hemis, together with Hanle near
the Tibetan border, was founded at the instance of King Sengge Namgyal, and
Chemrey by his widow as a posthumous act of merit for him. Stakna, dating
from a slightly earlier period, was endowed by the Namgyal kings at various
times. All these belong to the red-hat Kar-gyut-pa sect of Tibetan
monasticism.
The reformist Ge-lugs-pa (Yellow-hat) sect is also
well represented in central Ladakh by Thikse, Likir, Ridzong and Spituk, the
last of which has daughter houses at Stok, Sabu and Sankar. Ri-dzong, the
only gompa which is not as yet approachable by a motorable road, is situated
a few kilometers up a side- valley at Uley-Tokpo. It was founded only a
century and a quarter ago by a devout layman-turned-lama, with the purpose
of giving full expression to the strict monastic rule of the Ge-lugs-pa.
While the paintings and images in its temples may, to some extent, lack the
aesthetic and antiquarian interest of those in the older establishments,
this gompa nevertheless has an indefinable atmosphere of peace and
dedication which reflects faithfully the inwardness of the Buddhist Way.
The smaller but much older Bying-ma-pa and Saskya-pa monastic
sects are represented respectively by Tak-thok and Matho gompas. Takthok, at
the foot of the Chang-la, incorporates one of the many caves in the Himalaya
where the Indian Buddhist apostle Padma-sambhava is said to have rested and
meditated on his journey to Tibet. Matho Gompa has a slightly rundown
structure, but a vibrant religious community. It is famous for its festival
of the oracles which takes place early in the year, usually in the first
half of March.
But the jewel among central Lakakh's religious
sites is Alchi. Abandoned centuries ago as a place of regular worship, it
has been lovingly maintained by the monks of Likir, the nearest functioning
gompa. Known as Chos-kor, or religious enclave, it comprises five temples,
the riches in paintings and images being the Du-khang (assembly hall) and
the three storey Sum-tsek. Its murals, dating from the 11th and 12th
centuries, pre-date the Tibetan style of painting that is present in all the
other gompas. Some of them are reminiscent of the paintings of the far-off
Ajanta Caves and are presumed to be almost the sole survivors (along with
some in Phugtal Gompa in Zanskar, and Tabo in Spiti) of the Buddhist style
current in Kashmir during the first millennium AD.
