The absence of ancient Hindu structures in Kashi is something I have always lamented about. The shrines are certainly ancient, and that is something that has always attracted me to the city. However, I miss the beauty of the ancient structures that we see at other sites. This feeling is intensified when I see marble and concrete and tiles in temples that once would have been beautifully adorned with evocative sculptures, and worn by the passage of time, touched by the hands of seekers who came before. This time , this desire to see some remnants of an ancient Hindu structure in Kashi came true when I managed to visit the Kardameshwar Temple. The Kardameshwar temple is not one of the main temples in the city. It is part of the temples on the Pancha Kroshi yatra, a pilgrimage which takes one on a circumambulatory tour of the whole city. The temple is located on the outskirts of the city, on the western bank of a tank called the Kardama Kund. The Kardameshwar temple is one of the...
The Nubra region lies north of Leh, two scenic valleys formed by the Nubra and Shyok rivers, between the Ladakh range and the Karakoram mountains. The region is part green, part rocky and barren, and part desert, sand dunes and all. This was our destination for the next couple of days of our Ladakh tour. Mountains, rivers, trees and sand, together at 10,000 ft! Setting off quite early in the morning , we had our first experience of what a traffic jam looked like here! We found ourselves in a line of vehicles behind a convoy of army trucks, and it was slow going, allowing us to not only enjoy the landscape, but also appreciate the difficulties the terrain posed to the army, and the efforts that must go in to maintaining these roads. The KhardungLa pass , said to be the world’s highest at 5,602m (18,380ft), was filled with tourists clicking away. We halted for a while at the insistence of our driver, but moved on as quickly as possible! We also visited the monastery at Sumur en r...