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
One of my resolutions this year is to post as often as I can. And to make it a bit easier for myself, I have decided to use some of the photos I have clicked, but never used. And some of these photos are of complete strangers - people I saw and clicked on my travels, but people I know little about. Hence the title, Faces in the Crowd.... And here is the first one.....
We saw her outside the Kala Ram Temple at Nashik, selling offerings for the deity. There was a time when I used to love the sugar offerings she sells - we used to call them 'batasha', but try as I might, I was unable to find the English word for them. Anyway, I clicked a quick photo of her wares, and she called out to me "Mazha photu nahi kaadnar kaa? " (Won't you click my photograph too?) and so I did... and she posed too, pursing up her lips in a smile which grew much wider when I showed her the photo on the camera screen.
Happy New Year!!. I also wish to post as often as possible I am not sure so didn't make any resolution
ReplyDeleteThanks Chitra. wish you too a wonderful year ahead! I dont usually make resolutions either, but I lagged behind so much on posting in 2012 that I felt drastic steps were needed to bring myself up to scratch!!! now lets see how long I manage to keep this up!
DeleteGreat Resolution , nice start , click click click ....
ReplyDeleteThanks Vishal!
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