Gauri Dabholkar's reflections: Dharamshala to Dhauladhar Mountains: Call of the mountains (Part-1)

On a bright afternoon in May 2023, our car started taking hairpin turns on streets lined up with tall, green deodars. In the last decade, I had the opportunities to visit Ladakh, Pindari Glacier, Kashmir, Kalap, Valley of flowers, Hemkund Sahib but had not gone to the north in the last four years due to the pandemic. Here was Gauri visiting her mighty father Himavat after a hiatus!*

This trip was planned by two of us which meant every detail of hotel, ticket, and food to be thought off! That itself can take up one’s energy. Thanks to various websites and information on the internet that made the job easier. We reached Redeem Homestay around noon. It was a multi-storeyed house of a Tibetan migrant who had worked and studied in Bangalore. We connected quickly with him due to his Bangalore connection. The room had a 300^oview of valleys and mountains. There was a small kitchenette with electric kettle, induction and microwave!

After a hearty meal of Tibetan noodle soup- thukpa we set out to see McLeod Ganj or Upper Dharamshala. Named after Sir Donald McLeod (Lieutenant Governor of Punjab) who played a role in its establishment in the 19^th century. McLeod died in a tragic train accident in 1872 in United Kingdom. There are at least two interesting paintings that depict McLeod’s connection with Sikhs in India and in Britain. Once a sleepy little mofussil, McLeod Ganj has now become a sought-after destination by visitors from Delhi, Chandigarh as well as foreigners. One can see young women travelling alone or with friends just to experience the mountains and some of them come to study Yoga or Meditation. In all, McLeod Ganj square was a melting pot of cultures.

Snow capped peaks show up

The Namgyal Monastery was moved to McLeod Ganj in 1959 after the failure of revolt by Tibetan people in Lhasa. Today, Namgyal Monastery is commonly known the Dalai Lama Temple is a temple that has the restored idols of Avalokiteśvara, Tārā and a 9 ft tall Buddha Śakyamuni in the central hall. The idol is over nine feet high from the lotus seat and is made up of gilded bronze. It is made as per the lineal measurements given in the texts.

Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is the 14th in this line of succession. He has served as a spiritual teacher to hundreds of thousands of Tibetan Buddhists, but he has also guided the Tibetan people as a political leader through the terrible times of the communist invasion and occupation of Tibet, and through their journey into life in exile.

Buddha Śakyamuni

In 1966, the image of Avalokiteśvara was disfigured and broken during the cultural devastation. This image had evolved from 7^th century – from the time of King Songtesen Gampo and it was considered very sacred by the Tibetans. Songtesen Gampo supposed to have patronised Buddhism in Tibet. He had two wives - Princess Wencheng from China and Bhrikuti from Licchavi clan in Nepal. Both of them are considered to be physical manifestations of Godess Tārā and the king himself is considered to be manifestation of Avalokiteśvara.

Tibetan people somehow managed to move out parts of the Avalokiteśvara image out of Tibet. The temple was built in 1969 and it now has permanent presence of Śakyamuni Buddha, Avalokiteśvara and Padma Sambhava.

Guru Padmasambhava

Guru Padma Sambhava came to Tibet from India in 8th Century. He is also called as Guru Rinpoche who introduced tantrik Buddhism in Tibet. The idol measures 12 feet from the lotus seat and is made up of gilded bronze polished with gold. Located in the west side of the temple, these images face towards Tibet.

Green Tara

Bodhisattva-Tārā with 21 images in the back

Adoration of female power was introduced in Buddhism through the images of female Bodhisattva-Tārā in the seventh century. She is the power of Avalokiteśvara. She helps to cross the ocean of existence. In a beautiful wooden and glass case, there were 21 Tārā images which depicted various qualities such as swiftness, victory, wisdom, melodiousness, terror etc. She helps for the development of bodhichitta. There were several beautiful thangka paintings all over.

Bhaisajya - Buddha with medicine bowl

After visiting the temple we went to Tibetan official area which was around 2 km from the temple. There we saw the Tibetan library and museum where several manuscripts were kept. A large manuscript of Ashtang Sahasrika Prajna Paramita was kept in a large box. It was dated to 12-13^th century CE. There was a biography of Padma Sambhava written in the 16^th century by Rinchen dpal in Tibetan UChen script with 458 folios.(peepultree) It is noteworthy that the Tibetans have been through so much torture but have managed to preserve the important manuscripts.

We did not have much time in the library as it was about to close but that day there was a book exhibition and also a sale of food. We had a slice of banana bread and refreshing Tibetan butter tea. Tasting butter tea was on my wishlist for a while. I had not tasted it in Ladakh due to an apprehension that it may not suit me while traveling on the winding roads. However, here we both loved the salty, buttery taste! We promised each other to prepare it after reaching home but it is yet to happen. After getting energised with butter tea, we trekked uphill via a path going through woods to reach the Mcleod ganj square where we could get an auto to Redeem Homestay.