Lamayuru is one of the most ancient monasteries in Ladakh, the oldest surviving structure dating to the 11 th century CE. What makes this monastery particularly fascinating, is its location, amidst what is today called the “moonscape”, for the spectacular natural rock formations, which truly are “out of the world”! As per legend , there once existed a huge lake in this area, populated only by the Nagas (serpents). It was prophesized that there would be a great monastery built here. This prophecy came true when the great acharya Naropa (756-1041 CE) arrived. He emptied the lake, meditated for many years inside a cave, and built the first monastery here. The present structure is a new one, built around the cave where Acharya Naropa is said to have meditated. This legend seems to fit well with the geological formations seen in the area, which suggest this was a paleo-lake, which disappeared around 1000 years ago. Lamayuru is about 130 km from Leh , and the Indus River flows along th
Now that our own Ganesha has left, we have time to go and see a few more Ganeshas around us.... Here are a couple of interesting ones we came across....
This one was Krishna-style, with a flute and Gopis in attendance.....
This one scored for its unusual design and the decorations....
We were welcomed by turkeys and ducks....
Here is how it looked .... those gazebo like structures are where the birds and tortoises were placed... the fountains were a great touch!
This one was Krishna-style, with a flute and Gopis in attendance.....
This one was simple, sort of like the Dagdu Sheth Ganpati in Pune...
but we liked its trunk and have decided to try and make one like this next year!!
This one scored for its unusual design and the decorations....
I clicked quite a lot of pics of this Ganpati....under the different effects of the lighting...
The Chinese theme drew quite a crowd here....the kids loved those cut outs....
while I loved the lanterns...
We were welcomed by turkeys and ducks....
and the last exhibits were a couple of tortoises.. these were the only eyesores in the entire display for the poor things had too little space to move in, and even Samhith felt that they should have at least given them a pond or something so that they would have been happier!
Here is how it looked .... those gazebo like structures are where the birds and tortoises were placed... the fountains were a great touch!
they look so lovely, mumbai comes alive during these 11 days...
ReplyDeleteOh Yes, Santosh! Mumbai does come alive... just wish i had more time to go and see more ganeshas!
ReplyDeleteNice series of photos.. Ganesh festival is catching up in other places too.. Chennai also had its share this time..
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed viewing these photos..!
Thanks Sridharan! yes, these days festivals are spreading all over the world! I even got a link to ganeshotsav in a temple in France!
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