Every precious spot of shade and vantage point at Hemis gompa (monastery) was taken while the not-so-lucky sat patiently in the sun. Whenever a masked performer came too close, old women touched their foreheads in reverence while wide-eyed kids cowered in terror.
A large thangka (a Tibetan Buddhist painting) of the Drukpa sect's founder, Tsangpa Gyare, unfurled on a wall, loomed over the proceedings. We were at the annual Hemis Festival in Ladakh on invitation by the Drukpas for the birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Padmasambhava who introduced Buddhism to the Tibetan region. Crowds milled about for a glimpse of his large statue in an antechamber.
For 350 years, the courtyard of the largest monastery in Ladakh has resonated with the clang and drone of gongs, horns, pipes and drums. We watched an endless procession of 400 monks twirl and dance wearing centuries-old costumes. The masked chham dances were based on the eight manifestations of Padmasambhava — wrathful, benign, feminine, royal, saintly, leonine — that he assumed at different times for the benefit of mankind. His Eminence Drukpa Thuksey Rinpoche, spiritual son of present monastic head HH Gyalwang Drukpa, along with learned scholar Khanchan Tsewang Rigzin, traced the origins of their sect.
The Drukpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism was founded in western Tibet by Tsangpa Gyare (1161-1211). On a pilgrimage, he and his disciples witnessed nine dragons roar out of the earth into the skies as flowers rained from the heavens. They named their sect Drukpa ('druk' in Tibetan means dragon) after this divine incident. To be honest, the only time we had heard of Druk was while devouring Druk jam as kids and Druk Air, both originating in Bhutan, where the sect prospered and Mahayana Buddhism continues to be the state religion.
Lynne Chain, a donor-volunteer from Malaysia known by her adopted name Deepam, outlined Drukpa's big plans for next year. Every 12 years a four-storeyed thangka of Padmasambhava is unfurled at Hemis. Next year, the event coincides with the millennial anniversary of Buddhist maha-siddha Naropa. A disciple of Tilopa, Naropa was the gatekeeper of Nalanda University and posed questions on theology and philosophy to people who came for admission and decided whether they were fit to enter or not. Later, he came to Ladakh and meditated in caves near Lamayuru and Zanskar.
Naropa 2016, a month-long event slated for July 1-31, will take place on a 300-acre tented zone near Hemis. Besides the Hemis Festival, the relics of Naropa (six bone ornaments) will be displayed for a few days, with teachings by masters, Himalayan cultural performances, free eye camps and tree planting. With half a million visitors expected to attend, it is billed as the 'Maha Kumbh of the Himalayas'. Drukpa's charity organisation Live to Love will attempt to break its own Guinness record of a million trees planted simultaneously. HH Gyalwang Drukpa will address the audience seated at the centre of a giant mandala, shaped like the 9th century Borobudur temple complex in Java. After the event, a statue of Naropa would be installed and consecrated as a monument.
Land of timeless beauty
Kargyud Homestay, a new family-run hotel in the quieter part of Leh overlooking the Tsemo Gompa, Leh Palace and the Stok range, served as the perfect base. The owner Phuntsog Wangchuk Goba also ran the famous restaurant Tibetan Kitchen, so food was delicious. Our next stop was the old summer capital Shey on the Leh-Thikse road lined with poplar and Ladakhi willow trees. Located in the lofty palace complex next to the Namgyal Victory Stupa was a chamber with a 39-ft-high copper statue of Shakyamuni Buddha gilded in 5 kg gold. The seated statue towered above us, spanning three storeys. From the citadel, a stupendous view fanned out of the Indus valley dotted by Stok, Stakna and Leh in the distance. A 4 km trekking path connects Shey to Thikse Monastery, past the largest chorten fields in Ladakh with hundreds of whitewashed stupas strewn across a lunar landscape.
Signboards along the way announced 'Rancho's School' or the Druk Padma Karpo (White Lotus) School, propelled to fame by Aamir Khan's 3 Idiots. Before the movie released in 2009, the school had no visitors; today it averages 200 a day! They had to set up Rancho's Cafeteria and gift shop to cater to the rush. The dynamic principal Stanzin Kunzang and His Eminence Drukpa Thuksey Rinpoche, the school's guiding light, took us around the campus.
It wasn't just the dramatic backdrop and its philanthropic mission that made the school special; the institution itself was unique. Designed by London-based Arup Associates, its award-winning eco-friendly architecture used passive solar heating, ventilated pit toilets that didn't require water and interlocking timber frames to withstand earthquakes! The dorms, named after Ladakh's high passes, housed local and underprivileged kids who learnt Bothi (the Ladakhi script), art, music, martial training besides regular subjects. Nearly half of the 726 students came from remote areas like Dah Hanu and Zanskar, and were sponsored.
In August 2010, after Ladakh was struck by cloudbursts and mudslides, the school suffered serious damage. Aamir visited Ladakh for disaster relief and the following month, gracefully accepted the appointment as 'Live to Love' Global Ambassador at a convention in London along with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon star Michelle Yeoh. After her recent relief work during the devastating Nepal earthquake, Michelle visited Ladakh for the first time this July and spent an evening at the school. "This is the most beautiful place on earth and the most beautiful school. We pledge our commitment that we will make your school bigger, better and stronger," she exclaimed, floored by the entertainment programme and enthusiasm of the students.
Speaking on her association, she mentioned that she first met HH Gyalwang Drukpa in New York and learnt about his Himalayan trek with 700 Live to Love volunteers for ecological awareness. Roped in as Executive Producer for Pad Yatra: A Green Odyssey, Michelle chronicled the epic journey with producer-director Wendy Lee. The Himalayas, a fragile glacial region being devastated by global warming, was described as the planet's '3rd Pole'. Michelle elaborated, "One of the things I love about the pad yatra is that you connect with Mother Nature... Your feet always have to be on the ground. The environment issue is very close to my heart. It is about being responsible — making people living in this region believe that they are custodians of the natural resources and how we have to be good tourists when we visit."
Tryst with fame
She had joined the Peace Pad Yatra in Sri Lanka at the tail end and hoped to do a complete journey. Being an outdoors person who liked to trek and camp, she wished to join the upcoming Eco Pad Yatra to Myanmar in December... In Ladakh, she looked forward to visiting Nubra Valley and Pangong Lake. Seeing the 'Rancho' name plastered everywhere, she reiterated the impact of movies. "Well, if it helps tourism, why not?"
It was local tour operator George Odpal who put Ladakh on the Bollywood map. Far from the chaos of Leh, we met him at his beautiful resort in Saboo 7 km away, a lovely showcase of Ladakhi architecture and cuisine. George recalls, "It all started with LOC Kargil in 2001. J P Dutta was planning to shoot in Ladakh and all enterprising locals were aflutter about how to get in touch with him. I had just started my company Himalayan Safaris. I had no idea about Bollywood, so I just Googled him and caught the next train to Mumbai! I bumped into a friend on his production team and my knowledge of the region and tour expertise got me the project. LOC was shot around Leh, besides the army area at Karu. At that point, it was the toughest thing we ever pulled off."
As queries trickled in, George expanded from location hunts to logistics, transportation, stay, permissions, recce and even equipment for film shoots. He has co-ordinated the filming of over 20 movies in Ladakh, including Shyam Benegal's Bose: The Forgotten Hero and the critically acclaimed Hollywood docu-film Samsara, featuring monks of Thikse Monastery making mandalas. Shot in 25 countries, it was the only location chosen from India. However, it was 3 Idiots that spurred the tourism boom in Ladakh. Interestingly, the original location for the movie's climax was not Pangong Lake but Tso Mo Riri, but wildlife permissions and snowfall made the production team look for an alternative in Europe, until they finally returned to Ladakh for Pangong. The rest is screen history. Today, tented camps dot the lake at Spangmik with carloads of tourists and biker groups stopping at the '3 Idiots' restaurant and shooting point.
After featuring Nubra Valley in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, filmmaker Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra recently returned to Ladakh to shoot his next film Mirziya, based on Mirza-Sahiban, a classic love story from Punjab. Shot in Nubra Valley and Pangong Lake, the movie will feature Ladakh on a dramatic scale. Few days later, as we cooled our heels in the blue waters of Pangong, we spied 'three idiots' mimicking the famous 'bum scratch' on the banks. We wondered what Bollywood poses would make it to people's selfies in a few years. Sigh... Cut!
Fact file
Getting there
It's a linear route down Leh-Manali highway to Mahabodhi Society at Choglamsar 9 km away, Shey Palace 6 km further, and another 4 km to Thikse Gompa.
The road continues to Karu check-post, 35 km from Leh, where it forks — a diversion on the right crosses the bridge over the Indus river and goes to Hemis 7 km away while the left turn goes via Chang La to Spangmik (125 km) on Pangong Tso.
When to go
Ladakh is accessible all year round with direct flights from Delhi though road access from Manali or Srinagar is generally between May and October. The 2-day Hemis Festival takes place in June-July. Next year, it kicks off the mega event Naropa 2016, held from July 1-31; www.naropa2016.com
Where to Stay
Kargyud Homestay, Chubi, Leh;
Ph: +91 9419178630
The Grand Dragon Hotel, Leh;
Ph: +91-1982-255266; www.thegranddragonladakh.com
Saboo Resort, Saboo; Ph: +91 94191 79742, 94192 31374; www.sabooresorts.com
Camp Redstart, Spangmik, Pangong Tso; Ph: +91 94191 77245; www.campredstart.com
Contact
Hemis Monastery, www.drukpa.org;
Drukpa White Lotus School, Shey, www.dwls.org;
Live to Love International,
www.livetolove.org.
For more info, visit: www.padyatra.org or www.padyatrathefilm.com
A large thangka (a Tibetan Buddhist painting) of the Drukpa sect's founder, Tsangpa Gyare, unfurled on a wall, loomed over the proceedings. We were at the annual Hemis Festival in Ladakh on invitation by the Drukpas for the birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Padmasambhava who introduced Buddhism to the Tibetan region. Crowds milled about for a glimpse of his large statue in an antechamber.
For 350 years, the courtyard of the largest monastery in Ladakh has resonated with the clang and drone of gongs, horns, pipes and drums. We watched an endless procession of 400 monks twirl and dance wearing centuries-old costumes. The masked chham dances were based on the eight manifestations of Padmasambhava — wrathful, benign, feminine, royal, saintly, leonine — that he assumed at different times for the benefit of mankind. His Eminence Drukpa Thuksey Rinpoche, spiritual son of present monastic head HH Gyalwang Drukpa, along with learned scholar Khanchan Tsewang Rigzin, traced the origins of their sect.
The Drukpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism was founded in western Tibet by Tsangpa Gyare (1161-1211). On a pilgrimage, he and his disciples witnessed nine dragons roar out of the earth into the skies as flowers rained from the heavens. They named their sect Drukpa ('druk' in Tibetan means dragon) after this divine incident. To be honest, the only time we had heard of Druk was while devouring Druk jam as kids and Druk Air, both originating in Bhutan, where the sect prospered and Mahayana Buddhism continues to be the state religion.
Lynne Chain, a donor-volunteer from Malaysia known by her adopted name Deepam, outlined Drukpa's big plans for next year. Every 12 years a four-storeyed thangka of Padmasambhava is unfurled at Hemis. Next year, the event coincides with the millennial anniversary of Buddhist maha-siddha Naropa. A disciple of Tilopa, Naropa was the gatekeeper of Nalanda University and posed questions on theology and philosophy to people who came for admission and decided whether they were fit to enter or not. Later, he came to Ladakh and meditated in caves near Lamayuru and Zanskar.
Naropa 2016, a month-long event slated for July 1-31, will take place on a 300-acre tented zone near Hemis. Besides the Hemis Festival, the relics of Naropa (six bone ornaments) will be displayed for a few days, with teachings by masters, Himalayan cultural performances, free eye camps and tree planting. With half a million visitors expected to attend, it is billed as the 'Maha Kumbh of the Himalayas'. Drukpa's charity organisation Live to Love will attempt to break its own Guinness record of a million trees planted simultaneously. HH Gyalwang Drukpa will address the audience seated at the centre of a giant mandala, shaped like the 9th century Borobudur temple complex in Java. After the event, a statue of Naropa would be installed and consecrated as a monument.
Land of timeless beauty
Kargyud Homestay, a new family-run hotel in the quieter part of Leh overlooking the Tsemo Gompa, Leh Palace and the Stok range, served as the perfect base. The owner Phuntsog Wangchuk Goba also ran the famous restaurant Tibetan Kitchen, so food was delicious. Our next stop was the old summer capital Shey on the Leh-Thikse road lined with poplar and Ladakhi willow trees. Located in the lofty palace complex next to the Namgyal Victory Stupa was a chamber with a 39-ft-high copper statue of Shakyamuni Buddha gilded in 5 kg gold. The seated statue towered above us, spanning three storeys. From the citadel, a stupendous view fanned out of the Indus valley dotted by Stok, Stakna and Leh in the distance. A 4 km trekking path connects Shey to Thikse Monastery, past the largest chorten fields in Ladakh with hundreds of whitewashed stupas strewn across a lunar landscape.
Signboards along the way announced 'Rancho's School' or the Druk Padma Karpo (White Lotus) School, propelled to fame by Aamir Khan's 3 Idiots. Before the movie released in 2009, the school had no visitors; today it averages 200 a day! They had to set up Rancho's Cafeteria and gift shop to cater to the rush. The dynamic principal Stanzin Kunzang and His Eminence Drukpa Thuksey Rinpoche, the school's guiding light, took us around the campus.
It wasn't just the dramatic backdrop and its philanthropic mission that made the school special; the institution itself was unique. Designed by London-based Arup Associates, its award-winning eco-friendly architecture used passive solar heating, ventilated pit toilets that didn't require water and interlocking timber frames to withstand earthquakes! The dorms, named after Ladakh's high passes, housed local and underprivileged kids who learnt Bothi (the Ladakhi script), art, music, martial training besides regular subjects. Nearly half of the 726 students came from remote areas like Dah Hanu and Zanskar, and were sponsored.
In August 2010, after Ladakh was struck by cloudbursts and mudslides, the school suffered serious damage. Aamir visited Ladakh for disaster relief and the following month, gracefully accepted the appointment as 'Live to Love' Global Ambassador at a convention in London along with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon star Michelle Yeoh. After her recent relief work during the devastating Nepal earthquake, Michelle visited Ladakh for the first time this July and spent an evening at the school. "This is the most beautiful place on earth and the most beautiful school. We pledge our commitment that we will make your school bigger, better and stronger," she exclaimed, floored by the entertainment programme and enthusiasm of the students.
Speaking on her association, she mentioned that she first met HH Gyalwang Drukpa in New York and learnt about his Himalayan trek with 700 Live to Love volunteers for ecological awareness. Roped in as Executive Producer for Pad Yatra: A Green Odyssey, Michelle chronicled the epic journey with producer-director Wendy Lee. The Himalayas, a fragile glacial region being devastated by global warming, was described as the planet's '3rd Pole'. Michelle elaborated, "One of the things I love about the pad yatra is that you connect with Mother Nature... Your feet always have to be on the ground. The environment issue is very close to my heart. It is about being responsible — making people living in this region believe that they are custodians of the natural resources and how we have to be good tourists when we visit."
Tryst with fame
She had joined the Peace Pad Yatra in Sri Lanka at the tail end and hoped to do a complete journey. Being an outdoors person who liked to trek and camp, she wished to join the upcoming Eco Pad Yatra to Myanmar in December... In Ladakh, she looked forward to visiting Nubra Valley and Pangong Lake. Seeing the 'Rancho' name plastered everywhere, she reiterated the impact of movies. "Well, if it helps tourism, why not?"
It was local tour operator George Odpal who put Ladakh on the Bollywood map. Far from the chaos of Leh, we met him at his beautiful resort in Saboo 7 km away, a lovely showcase of Ladakhi architecture and cuisine. George recalls, "It all started with LOC Kargil in 2001. J P Dutta was planning to shoot in Ladakh and all enterprising locals were aflutter about how to get in touch with him. I had just started my company Himalayan Safaris. I had no idea about Bollywood, so I just Googled him and caught the next train to Mumbai! I bumped into a friend on his production team and my knowledge of the region and tour expertise got me the project. LOC was shot around Leh, besides the army area at Karu. At that point, it was the toughest thing we ever pulled off."
As queries trickled in, George expanded from location hunts to logistics, transportation, stay, permissions, recce and even equipment for film shoots. He has co-ordinated the filming of over 20 movies in Ladakh, including Shyam Benegal's Bose: The Forgotten Hero and the critically acclaimed Hollywood docu-film Samsara, featuring monks of Thikse Monastery making mandalas. Shot in 25 countries, it was the only location chosen from India. However, it was 3 Idiots that spurred the tourism boom in Ladakh. Interestingly, the original location for the movie's climax was not Pangong Lake but Tso Mo Riri, but wildlife permissions and snowfall made the production team look for an alternative in Europe, until they finally returned to Ladakh for Pangong. The rest is screen history. Today, tented camps dot the lake at Spangmik with carloads of tourists and biker groups stopping at the '3 Idiots' restaurant and shooting point.
After featuring Nubra Valley in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, filmmaker Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra recently returned to Ladakh to shoot his next film Mirziya, based on Mirza-Sahiban, a classic love story from Punjab. Shot in Nubra Valley and Pangong Lake, the movie will feature Ladakh on a dramatic scale. Few days later, as we cooled our heels in the blue waters of Pangong, we spied 'three idiots' mimicking the famous 'bum scratch' on the banks. We wondered what Bollywood poses would make it to people's selfies in a few years. Sigh... Cut!
Fact file
Getting there
It's a linear route down Leh-Manali highway to Mahabodhi Society at Choglamsar 9 km away, Shey Palace 6 km further, and another 4 km to Thikse Gompa.
The road continues to Karu check-post, 35 km from Leh, where it forks — a diversion on the right crosses the bridge over the Indus river and goes to Hemis 7 km away while the left turn goes via Chang La to Spangmik (125 km) on Pangong Tso.
When to go
Ladakh is accessible all year round with direct flights from Delhi though road access from Manali or Srinagar is generally between May and October. The 2-day Hemis Festival takes place in June-July. Next year, it kicks off the mega event Naropa 2016, held from July 1-31; www.naropa2016.com
Where to Stay
Kargyud Homestay, Chubi, Leh;
Ph: +91 9419178630
The Grand Dragon Hotel, Leh;
Ph: +91-1982-255266; www.thegranddragonladakh.com
Saboo Resort, Saboo; Ph: +91 94191 79742, 94192 31374; www.sabooresorts.com
Camp Redstart, Spangmik, Pangong Tso; Ph: +91 94191 77245; www.campredstart.com
Contact
Hemis Monastery, www.drukpa.org;
Drukpa White Lotus School, Shey, www.dwls.org;
Live to Love International,
www.livetolove.org.
For more info, visit: www.padyatra.org or www.padyatrathefilm.com