MaitreyaBuddha – Travel-along.in

Although the episode on Leh is at the fag end of the series on Ladakh, we actually started our journey through Ladakh from here. After the mandatory acclimatization at Leh, we set out to discover Ladakh by visiting some of the interesting locations near Leh.

Magnetic Hill

This is an enigmatic hill around 25 kms from Leh on the Srinagar Leh highway. It is believed that the magnetic forces in the area can pull a stationary vehicle uphill. However, it is the peculiar topography of the layout that creates an optical illusion of an uphill road and hence stationary vehicles may appear to roll uphill when in fact they are rolling downhill.

Approaching magnetic hill

Our group at magnetic hill

Shanti Stupa

Shanti Stupa is a Buddhist Stupa located on a hillock in Leh.

It was built in 1991 by a Japanese monk to promote world peace and to commemorate 2500 years of Buddhism . Signifying the close relationship of the Japanese people ; it is a two level structure.

Entrance to the Stupa

Shanthi Stupa

The first level features a golden Buddha image sitting on a wheel or Dharma chakra.

Buddha sitting on the Dharmachakra

The second level has reliefs depicting the birth, nirvana and other landmarks of Buddha’s life enshrined by the Dalai Lama himself.

Reliefs showing birth of Buddha and defeat of devils

Mahanirvana

One of the beautiful paintings at the Stupa

View of the Himalayas and Leh city from the hillock

Since our hotel overlooked the Stupa, we had a good view of the lit up stupa from our room..

The lit up Stupa

Leh Palace

This palace ; overlooking the city of Leh ; was once the residence of the royal family but is more of a museum and tourist destination now. This partially dilapidated palace under the Archaeological Survey of India, is being restored while retaining some of its ancient architecture.

The palace was built by Sangge Namgyal in 1600 AD and was the royal residence till the Dogras attacked Ladakh in mid 19th century forcing the royal family to relocate to Stok Palace .

The palace is nine storeys high with the upper floors being the royal residences and the lower ones being used as stables and stores. Built of mud, wood, sand and stone in Tibetan style, a visit there gives us an insight of ancient Ladakh.

The Leh Palace

A climb up a fairly steep series of steps brings one to the entrance of the palace.

The steps leading to the entrance. Note the elaborately decorated windows

The main entrance with typical local decoration

After a flight of stairs, we reach the hall with exhibits along all four sides. These exhibits describe the various aspects of the palace.

The main hall with exhibits all around

The bamboo and wood ceiling and an exhibit describing the palace

The Palace has open terraces at many levels offering panoramic views of the city and surrounds. These terraces were venues of performances by artists with the royals watching from the balconies above.

One of the terraces

The balconies from where the royals watched the performances on the terraces

Apart from this, the palace has a wide collection of traditional arts and treasures.

The Palace museum is a storehouse of traditional Ladakhi jewellery, ceremonial dresses, crowns and other artistic treasures. Thanka paintings , in as yet preserved vibrant colours adorn the walls of the upper floors.

The paintings in various stages of decay and repair

The palace also houses some shrines of Maitreya Buddha and Siddarth Patra with thousand hands.

Some of the shrines in the palace

A short film that details the history and passage of the palace through different eras is also continuously screened in one of the upper floors.

The view of the Himalayas and Leh city from the upper floors is amazing indeed!!

Gurudwara Pathar Sahib

Our next destination was the Pathar Sahib Gurudwara on the Srinagar Leh highway about 25 kms from Leh. This Sikh temple was built in 1517 to commemorate the visit of Guru Nanak Dev, the founder guru of the Sikh faith .

A boulder with a hollow impression of the back, head and shoulders of Guru Nanak Dev is worshipped here. Legend has it that a wicked demon who wanted to kill Guru Nanak pushed a boulder down on him but the boulder (pathar in hindi) melted like wax and left the imprint of the sage and hence the name.

The shrine was an abode of peace and tranquility and calmed down our minds after the long day outdoors.

Some pictures…

The shrine

A plaque explaining the legend of the shrine

During the visit we saw lot of Army personnel sitting and reading religious books here. It must surely be a haven of peace for the wonderful souls how stay away from family and friends to protect our country!!

With a feeling of deep gratitude, we returned to our hotel looking forward to another exciting day at Leh..

Next episode will bring more from Leh. Till then, do subscribe, comment and like the posts…

The Nubra valley lies to the north of Leh between the Ladakh and Zanskar ranges of the Himalayas. In contrast to the rest of Ladakh ; it is more green with lots of wild flowers and shrubs .The word Nubra is derived from the Ladakhi word Ldumra meaning an orchard or garden.

The villages that make up Nubra lie on the banks of the Shyok river that originates in the Karakoram ranges and merges into the Indus. The other important river is the Nubra river (Siachen). These rivers make the valley a fertile region where wheat, barley, peas, mustard, apples, walnuts and apricots are grown. This makes the general ecosystem of Nubra more green unlike the rest of Ladakh which is primarily a cold desert

The Shyok river

Apart from the natural beauty of the lush green valley against the backdrop of the snow clad Himalayas, Nubra has a lot to offer the tourists.

While driving from Leh to Nubra, one crosses the Khardungla Pass at a height of 5359 mts and is the second highest motorable road in the world. Khardungla has already been covered in detail earlier in an episode on the Himalayan passes.

The road to Khardungla Pass

Khardungla Pass

The Diskit Monastery (often called Diksit)

Diskit village is the most important village of the valley and it hosts the Diskit monastery that sits on top of a hill providing magnificent views of the valley and the Shyok river.

A giant Maitreya Buddha ( Buddha of compassion) statue standing 32 mts high looking towards Turtuk, the last village on the Indian side close to Baltistan in Pakistan. This statue was consecrated by the Dalai Lama and it is believed to bring lasting peace to the region which has seen turbulent times.

Diskit Monastery

The giant Maitreya Buddha

The Hunder sand dunes

The sand dunes located at Hunder village stretching over a few kilometers were formed after a historical flood in 1927. They provide a desert landscape with the snow capped mountains in the backdrop and highlights the diverse ecology of Ladakh.

The sand dunes

A small stream was flowing along and we relaxed by soaking our legs in the icy waters…

Relaxing in the icy stream

Double humped Camels( Bactrian Camels)

These camels are a tell tale sign of the trade that took place hundreds of years ago on the Silk Route. The caravans travelling between central Asia and Kashmir used to stay in the villages at Nubra . After the closure of the silk route, these hapless animals found themselves left behind here. Their descendants entertain tourists in the Nubra valley with camel rides which sustain them.

The double humped camels

Camel rides at Nubra

Nubra valley also has ATV rides and zip lining as entertainment activities for tourists.

ATV Rides

Enroute, we had lunch at a local restaurant where we were served the local Seabuckthorn juice. The unique Seabuckthorn berry also called the Leh berry is widely found here all along the way among the shrubs.