Lahaul & Spiti - The Land of Wondrous
Gompas
Ashok Thakur
Ashok Thakur belongs to the ruling family
of Lahaul. He is presently
the Principal Secretary (Culture and
Tourism) to the Government of
Himachal Pradesh. As such he is responsible
for the preservation of
some to the oldest monasteries of this
remote Himalayan region.
The Himalayan district of Lahaul–Spiti in
the Indian state of Himachal
Pradesh is one of the last refuges for
Tibetan Buddhism in India. As
one crosses over the Rohtang Pass from
verdant Manali through the
fluttering prayer flags and piled up mane
stones one truly enters into a
different world – a world of gompas,
chortens and above all smiling
faces with chinky eyes and warm hearts
which is in stark contrast to
the overall ruggedness of the landscape.
Centuries of landlocked and
hard existence have led these people to
devise their own social
institutions for their survival -
polyandry, law of primogeniture and
above all the monastic system of life all
designed to keep population in
check and at the same time to avoid
fragmentation of land holdings.
Even today the district is land locked for
5 months in a year as all the
passes leading into the valley are blocked
due to heavy snowfall from
December to May each year, the only
connection with the outside
world then being a once a week helicopter
service for medical
emergencies. Amongst all the three
institutions it is only the gompas which are still
going strong thanks largely to the Dalai
Lama who has been frequently
visiting these areas and holding Kalachakra
discourses for the people
of this Himalayan district.
I shall take you for a tour of the stunning
gompas of Lahaul and Spiti.
Let us first go to Lahaul. Around Kyelong,
Lahaul’s headquarter, one
can find some of the most exquisite gompa
of the area.
Located 8 kms from Keylong, Guru Ghantal is
overlooking a precipice
above Tandi village, where the Chandra and
Bhaga rivers join to form
the Chandrabhaga. The gompa is surrounded
by a large number of
rock caves. Locals claim that Guru
Padmasambhava had meditated
before here leaving for Tibet. Guru Ghantal
is a double-storeyed
structure made of wood, with pyramidal
roofs and a big assembly hall,
characteristic of monasteries in the Lahaul
valley.
The monastery has a black stone image of
the Hindu goddess Kali,
locally known as Vajreshwari Devi, the
deity has been assimilated into
the Buddhist pantheon.
A few kilometres away is Shashur gompa.
Founded in the 16th century
by a Tibetan Lama, the place is named after
the juniper trees growing
in its vicinity. The original temple has
been rebuilt several times; the
last being about a hundred years ago after
it was destroyed by an
avalanche. This monastery has gigantic
tangkhas, some over 4.5 m
tall and numerous wall paintings, including
that of the 84 Buddhists
siddhas.
Once the capital of Lahaul, the village of
Kardang possesses a 900
year old monastery built on the banks of
the river Bhaga. It was
renovated by a Tibetan master, Lama Norbu
in 1912. The multi-
storeyed structure has four temples.
Kardang’s library has a collection of musical instruments, beautiful
tangkhas and ancient weapons. Unfortunately
the old gompa has been
demolished and in its place a more spacious
and a modern one built
has been constructed.
In Satingiri village, Tayul gompa (or
‘chosen place’ in Tibetan) is
famous for its 4 meter tall statue of Guru
Padmasambhava. The prayer
wheel at this gompa is reputed to have the
divine power of ‘self
turning’. According to resident monks, this
last happened in 1986.
Lahaul has the particularity to have two
temples holy to both
Buddhists and Hindus. The Mrikula Devi
temple in Udaipur village is
dedicated to the goddess Kali. This wooden
temple was built in the
11th century. The local priests claim that
it was built much earlier.
Overnight, the Pandava brothers would have
constructed it from a
single block of wood.
A fascinating panel depicts the Assault of
Mara, in which Buddha
engages in battle with Mara the Tempter,
flanked by Rama warring
with the demon Ravana.
The other temple is the 8th century
Trilokinath temple across the
Chandrabhaga river. It has a six-armed
deity that is said to have been
installed by Padmasambhava himself. It is
worshipped as Shiva by
Hindus and Avalokiteshwara by Buddhists.
Officiating priests claim that those who
pass through the narrow
passage between the temple’s wall and the
two pillars that stand at
the entrance to the main shrine, wash off
all the sins of all their
previous births.
The other valley of the district is the
Spiti valley. Here you can find the
most awe-inspiring gompas. Spiti’s early
monasteries were built during
the 11th and 12th century during an era of
peace and renaissance. The
great translator Rinchen Zangpo has been
instrumental for the revival
of Buddhism in the area. With the Mongol
invasion in the 17th century,
this peace was shattered and warfare
affected the architecture of most
of the gompas. During this period, the
gompas were constructed on
elevated ground, usually on hill peaks.
Thus they gained the
appellation ‘fort monasteries’. One of the
most well-known examples
of such construction is Kye, which was
shifted from lower ground at
Rangrik to a higher one.
The uppermost rooms in the gompa are
assigned to the khenpo (the
abbot); this position indicates his
superior status. The most sacred
spaces in a gompa are the lha-khang (sacred
shrine) and the dukhang
(assembly hall). The gon-khang (chamber of
protective deities)
and zalma (chamber of picture treasures)
are also of great
significance. Lower down in monasteries are
the monks’ cells. The
verandas of the du-khang are usually most
extensively decorated. A
monastery’s courtyard, the site of all
monastic festivals, is an integral
part of the building. Every courtyard has a
lungta (prayer flag) around
which monks perform the annual cham (ritual
dance).
In most monasteries, the inside walls,
windows and doors are painted
in vivid colours like black and red, in
contrast to the white exterior.
These sharp, alternating colours are a
feature of Tibetan architecture,
and derive their philosophical basis from
Tantra, which emphasises the
union of opposites.
Kye gompa is situated 7 kms from Kaza,
Spiti’s headquarters. It is the
first fortified monastery in Spiti. The
entire complex is located on the
slope of a hill. Kye’s garrisoned
architecture still bears stark testimony
of the Mongols’ attacks in the region. As
late as the 19th century, Kye
was subjected to more assaults during the
Kullu-Ladakh, the Dogra
and Sikh wars.
Kye is also a vibrant centre of Buddhist
cultural tradition. Its elaborate
du-khang was rebuilt after the original was
destroyed in the
earthquake of 1975.
Not far away at Komic is Tangyud gompa at
an elevation of 4,587 m.
It is one of the highest in the world. This
monastery is over 500 years
old and has about 45 monks in residence.
According to a legend its construction was
foretold in Tibet, as a
monastery built between two mountains, one
shaped like a snow lion
and the other like a decapitated eagle. The
space between the
mountains would resemble the eye of a snow
cock, and, the name
Komic in fact derives from this – ko means
snow cock and mic, eye.
India’s oldest functioning monastery is
Tabo gompa, some 47 kms
from Kaza. This monastery is an
architectural illustration of the
concept of the mandala. The monastery
celebrated its 1,000th
anniversary in 1996 when the Dalai Lama
performed the Kalachakra
initiation in Tabo.
The gompa is known as the ‘Ajanta of the
Himalayas’, holds treasures
in its dimly-lit interiors. Its walls and
ceilings are a canvas for
astounding mural paintings. Sharp lines,
earthy colours and distinctly
Indian features are characteristic of the
paintings from this early
period. The du-khang is the most
elaborately decorated, with its walls
divided into 3 tiers. The life of Buddha is
depicted on the lowermost
tier, followed with 32 stucco images on
pedestals in the middle tier,
and 3 rows of Boddhisattvas on the
uppermost tier.
From a considerable distance, Dhankar gompa
stands out because of
the solidity of its construction, which led
the 19th century traveller,
Trebeck, to refer to it as a ‘cold fort’.
Dhankar was originally called
Dhakkar or ‘Palace on a Cliff’. Dhankar was
once the capital of Spiti.
This gompa has been enlisted as one of the
World Endangered
Monument.
A two-hour drive from Dhankar is Lha-lun
gompa (literally the ‘Land of
Gods’). It is one of Spiti’s oldest
monasteries which is believed to have
been constructed overnight by the gods
after Lotsava Rinchen Zangpo
planted a willow tree here, stating that if
it lived through the year, a
temple had be built next to it. The tree
still stands outside the gompa.
As a result of the sectarian strife in
Spiti most monasteries belongs to
the Gelukpa sect. Only in Pin valley, particularly
at Kungri and Mud,
one does find monasteries of the Nyingmapa
tradition. This is probably
because this region was very isolated, the
only entrance being through
the Pin river. The Kungri gompa has a large
retinue of monks in
residence. The dilapidated, mud-walled old
building is flanked by a
recently built hall decorated with
paintings and woodwork.
The monastic history of the region makes it
clear how links with
Tibetan culture were (and are) maintained
and balanced with the local
ethos. This is an indication of the ‘sacred
geography’ that extends
across countries. In Ladakh, for example,
the Stakna monastery
maintains a link with Guru Ghantal and with
their mother monastery at
Pangtang Dechinling in faraway Bhutan. If a
monk desires higher
education, for which facilities are not
available in Lahaul, he goes
there.
My earliest association with gompas of
Lahaul-Spiti was as a child in
Gemur gompa in Lahaul where I learnt the
Tibetan alphabet under the
guidance of my grand father Thakur Mangal
Chand, the Rais (or Wazir)
of Lahaul. He was the one responsible for
inculcating in me interest in
Lahauli history and culture. He himself was
a multifaceted personality:
being an accomplished administrator, a
renowned amchi [Tibetan
traditional doctor], a master of Thanka
painting and an explorer who
led expeditions successfully into Tibet
with British officers. For this
reason, he was appointed as the British
Trade Agent at Gartok.
My later association with the region and
its gompas was in my official
capacity as the Deputy Commissioner Lahoul
Spiti which means that as
head of the District, I was also
responsible for the gompas and their
restoration and upkeep. I continue doing so
today as the head of the
Department of Culture in the State of
Himachal Pradesh.
And do not forget, Himachal is the land of
hospitality; we will be
delighted to take you around our wonderous
gompas.
Glossary
Mani Stones carved with the sacred chant Om
Mani Padme Hum are
stacked one on top of the other to form
walls. Often, the mani wall
ends at the entrance to a village or on the
top of a pass.
Gompa or monastery is supposed to be
located in solitary place, far
away from social settlements.
Chorten, Tibetan for stupa, is a Buddhist
reliquary structure that
commemorates an auspicious occasion or
ceremony, or is a repository
of the relics of important monks and
saints.
