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THE HIMALAYAN CATHEDRALS
While the Buddhist tradition has practically disappeared in India and is in the process of disappearing in Tibet, Ladakh remains the guardian of ancient practices and artistic traditions dating back to over a thousand years. Nestling in isolation between the Karakorams and the Himalayas, the Ladakhi monasteries are excellent examples of Tibetan architecture and they contain gems of a school having multiple but dry roots. Each time a visitor returns to one of these well stocked chambers, he steps out of time and receives the special impression of living a moment of eternity.
The gompas are made up of several rectangular buildings, with flat roofs. These structures give off a strength mixed with dignity, a form of respect for nature, which they absorb with sensitivity. The Ladakhis have always given the utmost importance to the construction of their places of worship. A visit to a monastery begins with a general view, the imbibing of a certain atmosphere. It is difficult to imagine, when we admire these austere white or red walls, the flamboyance of the treasures they protect.
Generally, in the main hall of the Ladakhi gompas, a giant statue of the Buddha dominates other divinities or effigies of important ringpoches. The lamas, when entering this room, bow down thrice before him, and never turn their backs on him. This is the central element in the room.
All around is a cascade of colours. The walls are painted on the level of the stone itself. The Alchi paintings, some of them dating back to the 11 th century, are the most famous ones. Ladakhi pictorial art is unique as it rests on three well-demarcated influences: Kashmiri, Tibetan and Indian. Moreover, it is the last support of Ladakhi painting, every other trace having disappeared from the valley.
Hanging from the beams are tangkas, paintings on canvas with a backing of silk cloth, which
communicate to the lamas the divine teachings, as well as marvellous mandaias and frescoes. These paintings were made formerly only with the objective of contemplation and for concentration of thought. The central circle (literally Mandala in sanskrit) establishes the world of mar, the earth (symbolised by the square) and the cosmos in its totality (the circle). This technique has found a resonance right into the world of psychoanalysis: Jung used it with his patients.
However, to the Ladakhi Buddhist. the statues, the tangkas, the paintings and effigies of divinities are not simple abstractions illustrating certain structures of our psyche, but real living beings.
The gompas contain a unique pictorial tradition, influenced by a multiplicity of Asian schools; their festivals also mirror an equally large number of historical and religious traditions. Ladakh is full of demons and legends. Every here and there, a chorten, a gompa or some mysterious stone edifice reminds us that Buddhism is very deeply enrooted in the life of these mountain dwellers.
The modes of religious, social and family life have found a balance here with relation to the gigantic arid lands of the Himalayas. Be they nomads or those living in the Valleys of the Nubra and the Indus, Ladakhis now face the new machine-driven caravans which must become aware of their multiple responsibilities. In June 1994, three new regions were opened up to international travellers: the lands of the Changpah nomads; Nubra, a little patch of Indian land between China and Pakistan; and Dah-Hanu, inhabited by the last Dards of the Indus. Devoid of any influence, the equilibrium of these people and their natural sense of balance lies henceforth between the hands of every traveller. "To leave traces only of their steps and their smile" should be the mantra of every person setting out to encounter these worlds of infinite beauty.
Whether we climb up the snow-covered peaks or go down by boat along the rivers with their divine fury, into monasteries, or villages, we should never forget that this land of men is fragile because it is pure.
