Our final
morning at Leh began with a rather long wait for a new driver, who had gotten
lost within the maze-like roads that led to our homestay! Why a new driver?
Because most drivers in Ladakh don’t like to drive into Srinagar! Besides, we
would be driving through Kargil and entering Srinagar on the 15th of
August, Independence Day. The date wasn’t intentional, and had we known, we
would have altered our plans, but apparently tensions run high around the date,
even when situation was as normal as possible. More about that later. For now,
there’s a lot more that I have to tell you about Ladakh and the places we
visited. Because yes, despite our intention to take things easy, we planned to
make a lot of stops on our last two days
in Ladakh!
Our first
halt of the day was the very interesting site of Pathar Sahib. The Gurudwara
here commemorates the visit of Guru Nanak to this region, on the way to Tibet,
in the 16th century. As per the legend, during Guru Nanak’s visit
here, a demon tried to kill him by pushing a huge boulder towards him. Instead
of crushing him, the boulder instead softened, and formed a mould around him.
It then hardened again, leaving his imprint on the stone. This stone is
enshrined within the gurudwara, the imprint intact. The legend is part of the
stories of Guru Nanak, and the stone must have been in worship at some point in
time. However, it was rediscovered in the 1970s while a road was being laid,
and the gurudwara built around it.
What makes
this site and the stone fascinating, is that the same story narrated for Guru
Padmasambhava, who is the one credited with bringing Buddhism to Ladakh. Such
similar stories for different sects is not unusual in India. Our mythologies
consistently overlap. While reading more about this connection, I came across
two varied points of views. One took the view that Guru Nanak was an
incarnation of Guru Padmasambhava. The other suggested that this was originally
a site dedicated to Guru Padmasambhava, but, with the arrival of Sikhism in the
region much later, probably coinciding with a period of the decline of
Buddhism, the site got associated with Guru Nanak.
Whatever
the reason, it is yet one more instance of the overlap of faiths, that we are
so inherently comfortable with!
Our next
halt was the mandatory one on the so-called Magnetic Hill, where vehicles move
forward on their own, drawn by the strong magnetic field. While the idea is
interesting, it wasn’t enough to keep us there for long!
A little
further along the road, we came across the confluence of the Indus and the Zanskar.
The difference between the two rivers is very clear, the Indus being filled
with silt, while the Zanskar is clear. It was tempting to go down and spend
some time at the confluence, but we were already delayed, thanks to our late
start, and my enthusiasm for Pathar Sahib. Hence, we chose to move on,
satisfying ourselves with a glimpse of the confluence. We did stop a little
further down the road, where the Indus was calmer, and collected some water to
take back home.
Along this
route, we passed Basgo, and again, were tempted to halt. Once again, I found
myself hoping I’d visit Ladakh again, and see all these interesting sites that
I had missed.
This feeling only increased when we reached Alchi, to find out
that the monastery was closed, in preparation of a visit by the chief Lama. I
was disappointed, but we had no choice. We decided to visit the Saspol Caves
instead.
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| Can you spot the caves? On the right is a citadel, a later structure. The caves are on the left, painted in white and red. |
The Saspol
Caves are located across the river Indus from Alchi. There are 5 caves, among
which cave 3 is most impressive. Every inch of the cave is painted, and the
paintings have been dated to between the 13th and 15th
centuries.
I had heard
about Saspol first from Shubra (@historywali), and then had seen Kevin Standage’s photos and if we couldn’t see the famed
paintings of Alchi, then I wanted to see something else just as impressive!
What I hadn’t realized, and wasn’t prepared for, was the narrow path of mud and
stones on the hill that led to the caves. I am not sure-footed at the best of
times, and though this path took us just about 15 minutes (at a snail’s pace,
so to speak) it was probably the most scary 15 minutes of my life! I remember
taking the name of every god I could think of, with every step I took! And
after that experience, I decided not even to try climbing to all the caves, and
contented myself with just one – the biggest of course.
To describe
my experience of the cave, let me share verbatim from my diary –
This one
cave we visited took my breath away! Such vibrant colours and such amazing
details! Wow! I have no words to describe them. What I found most interesting
was that we did not need a flashlight to see the paintings. Once our eyes
acclimatized to the darkness within, the light from the single entrance was
more than enough to see every single painting in detail, and click photographs
too!
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| Sakyamuni Buddha |
The central
painting in the cave was of the Sakyamuni Buddha. Painted around him, in neat
registers, were a number of acharyas, protector deities and Bodhisattvas. The
cave was small, and the presence of the altar suggested this was the main place
of worship for the monks who lived in these caves. It was fascinating to think
about monks living here, at least 6 centuries ago, painting the caves with
images, which remain long after they are gone.
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| Avalokiteshwara |
The two
sites of Pathar Sahib and Saspol Caves couldn’t be more different. One is a
modern place of worship built over an ancient site, the other is an ancient
site maintained as it is. Both take great pains in preserving what is at their
core – the stone at Pathar Sahib, and the paintings at Saspol. Even the very
nature of the object of worship is different. Yet, the objective of both is the
same – to inspire faith.
Earlier posts in series –
Coming up –