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The old man flashes a mischievous, gap-toothed smile, his face furrowed by time like the mountain landscape around him, radiating contentment as he waves a prayer wheel in his hand.
He has been walking since the early morning, up and down hills, past rushing torrents, sandy plains and rocky, snow-covered crests, to which Ladakh, India’s outpost in the Himalayas, owes its beauty.
Hundreds of Ladakhis and tourists from all over the world crowd into the courtyard of the small Takthok cave monastery for a two-day celebration in honour of Padmasambhava.
Also known as Guru Rinpoche – precious guru – this Indian scholar is said to have brought tantric Buddhism to the region tucked between the Karakoram and Himalaya mountains.

Around 50km (30 miles) southeast of the region’s capital, Leh, Takthok is the only monastery in Ladakh that belongs to the oldest school of Tibetan Buddhism with direct links to Padmasambhava.
Legend has it that the great magician was born from a lotus flower and got up to all sorts of mischief in his youth. Later, the redeemed scholar vanquished spirits and demons, converted barbarian kingdoms to Buddhism and attained the secret of long life.
Today, Buddhists from Thailand, Cambodia and Bhutan make pilgrimages to the soot-blackened rock cave where Padmasambhava is said to have meditated for years.
They prostrate themselves before the small bronze figures depicting the saviour in his various manifestations, incant mantras and feed coins and notes into the cracks in the rock. If the gifts stick, your wishes and dreams are given good chances of coming true.
The festival is a mix of spiritual devotion and a bustling fair, bathed in the sounds of chants, cymbals, drums and long horns, whirring prayer wheels and clicking cameras.
Women don their finest dresses and matching velvet top hats and the men wrap themselves in a knee-length, wide-cut coat, the goncha, which is fastened at the hips and shoulders with bronze buttons.

The path to the fairground is lined with stalls, steeped in the aroma of delicious dumpling-like momos, and decked with Chinese-made balloons and toys for the little ones. A kind of wheel of fortune awaits the older visitors.
Monks in colourful silk and brocade robes circle the flagpole in the heart of the monastery complex, their faces covered by wooden masks, many of which are a century old and more.
Each meticulously rehearsed dance reverts to Padmasambhava, supposedly revealed to him by Amitabha, the Buddha of all-encompassing love.
In the enacted triumph of good over evil, the tantric master may appear as an angry fighter with a skull crown and fangs, or as a gentle apparition with a soft smile.
While not all visitors appreciate the deeper meaning of the legend and dances, it all combines as a unique experience in this more-than-remote location.
“If a valley is only reached over a high pass, only good friends or bad enemies will come,” goes the centuries-old wisdom applied to Ladakh, which belongs to India but has more in common with Tibet.

That is why this treasure in the far north, far from the hustle and bustle of India’s big cities, is also known as “Little Tibet”.
Ladakh has been officially open to tourists since 1974, when it mainly drew hippies from the West who braved the bumpy ride over the mountains in search of escapism and spirituality.
Today, planes from Delhi land at the airfield in Leh, wheeling in sharply between towering peaks rising 6,000 metres (20,000 feet).
“It’s mainly trekking fans, cultural travellers and motorbike freaks who are magically attracted by the breathtaking mountain world to the left and right of the green river valleys,” says tour guide Bhawani Singh, who takes tourists to the monastery festivals.
But Indians from the south also flock here to perform ritual ablutions in the Indus River. Signs of Buddhist piety are visible everywhere, prayer flags flutter in the wind, and snow-white meditation stupas greet you from steep hilltops, where the monasteries nestle.

The greatest jewel among Ladakh’s monasteries is the Alchi complex. Recognised as a World Heritage site by Unesco, its temples are replete with ornate wood carvings almost 1,000 years old.
Figures of the Bodhisattva – those on the path to spiritual awakening – reach several metres to the ceiling, their skirt-like robes bearing small painted vignettes from the life of the Buddha.
It is getting late in Takthok. After a last dance by the monks, the young and old head to the tents to celebrate. Buses leave every minute for Leh and those who missed a seat must return on foot.
The low sun bathes everything in a magical light, including the old man, still swinging his prayer wheel. He will be back tomorrow when the dancing monks again recall the great Padmasambhava, the lotus-born man with psychic powers.


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Travel & Leisure

A tour of Ladakh in India’s Himalayas takes in a Unesco World Heritage monastery and a festival where Buddhist monks dance in wooden masks


A tour of Ladakh in India’s Himalayas takes in a Unesco World Heritage monastery and a festival where Buddhist monks dance in wooden masks.


Religion

India

Tourism