A Photo Essay
Written by Sonam Chhomo
An old photograph
The History of Bodyig (Tibetan script) and its current state in different regions.
Written by Rinchen Angmo.
The Bodyig script was created owing to the vision and foresight of one of the greatest Tibetan Kings, Chogyal Songsten Gampo, the 7th century ruler of Tibet. The King realized that the advancing kingdom of Tibet would soon require its own script. Chogyal Songsten Gampo sent his intelligent minister Thonmi Sambhota to India with fifteen other young Tibetans so that they could learn Indian languages whereby they could develop a script for Tibet. On Thonmi Sambhota’s return from India, the Tibetan script was finalized.
Bodyig also known in some regions as Bodhik or Bhoti, is the script that became indigenous to Tibet, Ladakh, Lahaul (sTod valley), Spiti, Bhutan (Dzongkha), Baltistan, Sikkim (for Bhutias) and other regions. However, the usage of the script is slowly waning in many regions.
Read moreShey Shrubh Lha.
-Written by Rinchen.
My Abile(granny) said that today is Shey Shrubhlha: the day on which Shey’s protector deity Dorje Chenmo enters a human being in order to give advice to the village of Shey. The day of Shrubh lha also marks the beginning of harvest. I’m not exactly sure how this spans out these days and all that I know about how it spanned out back in my granny’s youth is stemming from bits of memories that my granny still holds. For those who don’t know, Shey, now a village, was once the summer capital of the Kingdom of Ladakh.
My granny said two of the things she remembers from this occasion is that on this day Dorje Chenmo using a human being as a medium visits the Shey Lonpo House ( one of the foremost erstwhile ministerial families in Ladakh during the King’s reign) and a traditional dance is held on the lawn before the Lha-khang (abode of the lha (deity), in this case Dorje Chenmo). Ofcourse, other important events also take place on this occasion, but these are the two which my grandmother recalls from personal experience.
A beautifully surreal month.
Written by Rinchen.
I would like to begin by thanking His Holiness The Dalai Lama for blessing and bringing so much joy to all the people of Ladakh. Chhaksal.
Each day of His Holiness’s presence in Ladakh has been filled with beauty and wonder for each and every Ladakhi in so many different ways. His Holiness’s interfaith visits, secular teachings, religious teachings, visits to Zanskar and Lingshed, and the various functions that were hosted in his honour, brought blessings upon and joy to a countless number of beings who had the sode and sonam (luck and merit) to be in His Holiness’s presence. We Ladakhis are truly honoured to have had His Holiness visit Ladakh as his first destination since the pandemic broke out.
We will miss all the beautiful moments that His Holiness’s visit brought and now look forward to His Holiness’s visit next year.
Read moreTales of Zanskar
How is Zanskar seen from different perspectives- students who left their land for better education, families who migrated from Zanskar a long time ago, and a film that captures a remote Himalayan village?
—-Written by Sonam Chhomo Photographs sent by Anushka Kashyap Film pic taken from Lonely Planet
Read moreBus of Life.
-Written by Rinchen.
Hustle- the name that the 21st century gives to life.
Yet, somehow in some corners of Ladakh, people are willing to give and not just get.
Read morewritten by Rinchen.
Followers of Tibetan Buddhism believe that both merit and demerit can be multiplied multifold times during an eclipse. Hence, prayers and good deeds are encouraged. Today’s lunar eclipse was one such occasion. The eclipse period ended at about 12 p.m.
As a beginner(even that would be an overstatement) in trying to follow the Tibetan-Buddhist way, there’s not much I can understand. However, what I’ve gauged is that the normal human mind clouded by illusions cannot always grasp concepts directly but must in fact keep an open mind.
Read moreWandering Watze.
A red fox on a full moon’s night.
Written by Rinchen.
My dog’s more aggressive-than-usual- bark got me to peek out of the window. A pointed snout, bushy tail and thin body.. behold the Himalayan Red Fox (known as watze in Ladakh) glimmering under the full moon’s radiance. From its body language, I inferred that it was a frequent visitor. As at any other occasion, I wondered what it meant..symbolically that is.
Read moreYoung and weathering years.
-Rinchen.
Considering Ladakh’s small population, one hears of suicide all too often; specially amidst the youth. Yet, it’s never talked about. These days, there is no solid support structure for the youth. The ‘elders’ who should be guiding the youth are either themselves misguided or are too busy.
In my opinion, one’s solid as well as individually understood source of support, in this day and age, understanding one’s mind. One way to that is through spirituality.
I’m not certain about other places, but surely Ladakh’s Buddhist youth is slowly getting disconnected from its religion: Tibetan-Buddhism. Factors are aplenty: apathy; ‘too cool for spirituality’; ‘too “rational” for spirituality; not been properly introduced to the tenets of the religion; too busy; lack of guidance. The youth today fails to understand that notions of success and coolness cannot take one far; without a firm understanding of the mind we are essentially just drifting through life. On the other side of the coin, the elderly are either unable to effectively share their knowledge, are ‘too cool’ themselves or are ignorant.
Read moreStone breaking ceremony and Buchens of Spiti
– Chemi Lhamo in conversation with Tenzin Sonam
Read moreSalchowk and Thultan (as named in sTod, Lahaul valley):
- – Sonam Chhomo
In the areas of Lahaul, Spiti and Ladakh, Tibet, Bhutan, Sikkim, and possibly Arunachal Pradesh, we have these traditional styled tables and mattresses in living rooms that are indigenously connected to our communities.
Read moreAngchok 1
a reverie?
-Rinchen
To my Abile (granny) the 2 day long Chemrey Angchok Chham (religious masked monastic performance event) was more about tending to guests in her bustling house. She recounts how our ancestral house would be full of guests, mostly relatives from outside Chemrey (our village). Chhang (Ladakhi beer) and traditonal barley and meat assortments would flow in plenty and Abile would be busy organizing rooms and food with the aid of helpers.
Read moreA tale of two tilens, two scripts.
-Rinchen.
“So Abile (granny), do you know how to read both Bodhik and Urdu?”, I asked in awe.
Abile’s answer was in the affirmative. She was telling me about her Urdu teacher when I asked her whether he was a Muslim. She said yes and that Sir Rehman le also taught Bodhik brilliantly.
Read moreShungma
By Sonam Chhomo
Shungma, Jispa, Lahaul valley
The experience of visiting places you always wanted to see for yourself is ethereal. The journey to this shungma felt almost as if I had been divinely allowed to enter its doorstep after many years of waiting for the perfect opportunity to unfold. As a child, I resisted visiting places at high altitudes because Lahaul was/is not a weather friendly place especially during the winter months. Even this time (it happened after a day), my ears remained blocked and my body felt uncomfortable for about two days.
But this year I felt as if I accomplished something.
Read more