Unfortunately, I did not feel better in the morning, having had a sleepless night due to a splitting headache. I was really bummed as altitude had never bothered me before (this was only 11,500 feet!) but, being cautious, I got a hold of some Diamox and started a regime in order to acclimatize more efficiently. Luckily our main activity today was to attend the Hemis Tsechu festival at the Hemis monastery near Leh. The festival is a celebration of the birthday of Guru Padmasambhava, believed to be an incarnation of the Buddha. The festival dates back to the 8th century and is heavily attended by locals on pilgrimage and tourists for a cultural experience. It involves a series of dances by the lamas, in various elaborate costumes, that tell the story of how Guru Padmasambhava came to the area and drove out the evil spirits from Ladakh allowing Buddhism to flourish.
The large figure under the parasol represents the guru and there are eight “devils” surrounding him -the ones that he banished.
Another dance. I am not going to show all the costumes but you can see how colorful they were!
Like most of the monasteries in this part of the world the Hemis monastery sits high on the side of a steep, rocky hill. There were no parking lots and from what I could tell people pretty much parked wherever they wanted on the surrounding rocky slope and climbed up the mountain to the monastery. We got dropped off near the steps at the base of the complex and our drivers went who knows where to park. The steps were steep and seemed to go on forever, but that was probably because I was still feeling the altitude and climbing slowly (oh, to have my Nepal conditioning back….!) People were everywhere and at times it was hard to navigate through the crowd to make any forward motion. In true festival style the world over, vendors had stationed themselves along the path, their wares spread out either on small tables or on cloths on the ground- contributing to the pedestrian traffic jams. The festival itself was held in the courtyard of the monastery, lavishly decorated in red and yellow banners. Most spectators sat on the floor, but the tourists could buy tickets for chair seats, a source of income for the monastery and a nod to comfort for the visitors. It was a hot day and our seats were in the sun so I was really thankful for the occasional cool breeze that wafted through the packed courtyard.
Wasn’t quite sure what was going on with the dancing skeletons but they were throwing a white powder into the crowd.
We stayed at the festival for most of the day, enjoying the variety of dances and costumes. Unusual this year was a special appearance by the “king-fu nuns”, which apparently have never given a public demonstration before. From what I could discern the king-fu were part of the curriculum at the Drukpa lineage (red hat) convent in Ladakh. The costumes were very elaborate and while I could not follow the story, I enjoyed watching the dances and the artistry and pageantry of the spectacle. The lama of the monastery watched from the second floor and I saw him greeting visitors and blessing silk scarves during the proceedings. Near him sat the drummers, horn players and chanters who provided the musical background for the dancers. Unusual this year was a special appearance by the “king-fu nuns”, which apparently have never given a public demonstration before. From what I could discern the king-fu lessons were part of the curriculum at the Drukpa lineage (red hat) convent in Ladakh. It certainly was an experience!
Kung-fu nuns with swords. They looked to be about high school age.
Kung-fu nuns with fans.