Dhagpo Shedrupling Monastery, Kais

Nov-28 to Dec-6, 2019
This was my first visit to Himachal Pradesh. It was a business trip and I would be staying at Dhagpo Shedrupling, a Buddhist monastery. I had seen a few pictures of the monastery and checked out the location on Google Maps couple of times. However, when I landed here, the place was not what I'd imagined, it was much more beautiful. The day I landed, it was raining lightly. The following day the clouds cleared and weather was dry. I was told that Kais weather is generally dry. With the winter setting in I would be dealing with cold and dry weather.

The monastery is situated on a slope of a hill like every structure in this place. The slope overlooks a valley where river Beas flows. In HP all major towns are situated next a river and major roads run along rivers. The nearest village is Kais which is situated on Kullu-Naggar road. This is the front portion of the monastery which has a Tibetan school, hostel for the monks and quarters for support staff. The golden structure is the gateway to the monastery.

That's the Tibetan school building. This picture was shot the day I reached, it was raining hence none of the monks are seen here. In the background are the snow-capped mountains. That's looking in the general direction of Manali.

Straight ahead on the other side of the valley are more snow-capped mountains. There's lot of orchards, houses and roads on those slopes. Though everything looks still there's activity going on. It takes a while to actually notice it.

Between the school and monk's hostel are these three Stupa. The first time I saw such Stupa was in Tintin in Tibet. Tintin, Snowy, Captain Haddock, the Sherpas are walking up a hill towards a Stupa. When Haddock goes to the right side, the Sherpas yell at Haddock to keep to the left. So its a rule that one has to go clockwise around these Stupas.

Inside the monastery are number of dogs, mostly the local variety. There was one golden brown pomarine, it was neither friendly or unfriendly. It just wanted to be on its own.

One of the days I happened to see folks in local attire. They had come to meet their children who were monks here. Men wear trousers, sweaters, coats and caps. Women are in salwaar, kameez, sweaters, shawls and caps. The caps are not gender specific. Women dress colorfully, it looks lively. The basic structure of the cap is same. The variations are in material and color pattern. The monks are always in maroon but the inner sleeveless top is of single color which is specified by the monastery.

This is the upper and inner level of the monastery where the central building is the temple. Of course the deity is Gautama Buddha. The building is painted in traditional colors.. white, maroon and gold. Flanking the building are four smaller buildings which are monks' quarters and an administration office. The monks live a disciplined life moderated by a senior monk who's known by the title "discipline master." The ground floor of this building is an open hall which is used for debates. One of the days, when it was sunny, groups of three to four monks were having debates. They have a unique way of clapping by extending their arms to express disagreement.

This is the roof of the senior monks' hostel. The tower on the left is a lift shaft. The color scheme is consistent. Discipline in every aspect. The roof is used as a utility area by the monks to dry their clothes and sun their blankets. Some times they come here to practice or memorize their books.

The temple is crowned by this sacred emblem of two golden deer looking up to a golden wheel - the wheel of Dharma. This picture was shot on second day, I think. The sky was cloudy that day, by the end of the day the sky was clear.

Looking towards the west. This is the view from the guest house room, my home for nine days. These mountains and the valley go on and on.. Beas flows towards Kullu and beyond. The land surrounding the monastery is farm land, mostly small holdings. Besides fruits like apples, plum and peach, farmers grow maize and vegetables. They rear cattle as well.

As seen from the guesthouse. This path goes down towards the school and monastery entrance. The building on the right is where one of the senior monk lives. It was my good fortune to have met him and got a sacred scarf as mark of blessing.

There was a bunch of puppies in one of the hostels. The pups would be playful during the day, when its sunny. The brown pup was active and little clumsy. It would bump into things as it ran around. I found it quite amusing, even a group of monks found its antics funny.

Bird's eye view of the monastery and Beas. This picture was shot high up on the mountain. The road on the left hand side goes down to Kais village.

This is the view from the top floor of the temple building. The flat surface in the foreground is an apple orchard. Farmers grow seasonal crops like maize or vegetables in between the rows of trees. On the left hand side is a village of 80 to 100 houses. One morning I went for a walk, took a trial up the hill which passed through the village. Life here is so much different compared to life in plains.

This was shot one of the mornings. The shadow of the eastern range is on the other side. The mountain tips are lit up. I shot several shots with different settings which resulted in a series of pictures with dark slopes or over-exposed sky. This picture is the most balanced one I could manage.

After noon, when the sun goes westwards the shadows of the opposite site covers the monastery side. By 3-30 the shadows are cast and the temperature starts dropping. The building here is a resort, didn't really see many tourists though. The aerial view of the monastery was shot from that hill, high up where the green cover is thick.

A snow-capped mountain tip lit by setting sun. The layered cloud formation is lovely. Shooting this picture was also tricky. Life in the monastery wasn't easy but the beauty surrounding was greater.

The monastery's lower part has several trees, mostly bottle-brush. The trees are home to mynas and sparrows. I'd seen crows as well but they preferred to perch on sparsely covered trees or walls. It looked like the mynas and sparrows had marked their trees and respected each others' territory. One thing I noticed, the birds' flights were shorter and slower compared to the ones seen in warmer weathers. Birds being reptiles are cold blooded, cold weather renders them less active.

The sparrows were the plumpest I'd ever seen. They were at least one and half times fatter than warm weather sparrows.

Nine days at the monastery went by quickly. The work I'd come for was done, I got to interact with the monks, saw a bit of their disciplined life style, rode up a mountain, walked through couple of villages.. so much had happened and I'd enjoyed every bit. The last day, I lit a few candles in honor of this place and its people. These candles are made by the monks and arranged neatly in an enclosure. Anyone could light them by paying ₹5 per candle. The fee covers the cost of wax and wicks. The soft glows of the little lamps.. what a warm sight it was.. not just for the eyes but the heart as well.

Wishing another visit to Kais..
.........

reaching Kais-Kullu

Kais is a little village in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh. Its economy is supported by horticultural farms, agricultural farms and tourism. It is also known for a Buddhist monastery. My journey to Kais started on Nov-27th night from Bengaluru airport. I would be hopping flights all night.. Delhi-Chandigarh-Kullu. I was prepared for a sleepless night. The anticipation of seeing Himalayas kept me awake, I guess.

November 28, 2019
It was around 10-45 AM when the propeller plane took off from Chandigarh runway, the city's grid like roads came into view. It was a cloudy day, as the plane climbed the city vanished under the clouds.

It was a short flight, in no time the pilot announced that we were approaching Kullu. The plane descended, flew into the cloud layer and then mountains came into view. We were flying close to mountain tops, the houses were in clear view, could see people carrying out their chores. The sights were captivating, I stayed glue to the scenery, so were the co-passengers. Mist and water would cover the windows time to time cutting off the view. I was wondering where in these mountains was the runway to land this plane.. yeah the P-shaped tarmac came into view, running parallel to a river which later learnt it was Beas. The landing was little rough because of the short runway, the braking was hard. It had rained, small drops still falling, and it was cold. It looked like most passengers were tourists, all excited, starting shooting selfies right on the runway. Wow! this is probably the most tourist-friendly airport.

The airport is surrounded by mountains on all sides. The sight was mesmerizing. I was glad to be here, breathing the fresh cold air, it felt heavenly.

After collecting the check-in baggage, I hired a cab to drop me off at Kais, 20km journey. Unlike a large airport, this was peaceful.

The road to Kais passed through a small town, tight roads with buildings almost spilling out. Though tired, hadn't slept in the past 30 hours, I was all eye for the local lifestyle. I caught sight of long conical cane baskets in a hardware store, it was the type used in farms. Karun, a frequent visitor to Kais had asked me to have breakfast at Sapna Sweets on the way. The cab driver was familiar with the restaurant, dropped me off and went in search of parking which would be a kilometer or two away. I had parathan and sabji, the steaming hot food warmed me up. I bought some snacks for myself and for the cab driver as well. The friendly cab driver happily accepted the snacks :)

In Himachal Pradesh major roads like highways run along along rivers. So did the the road to Kais which is actually Manali-Kullu road. Kais was midway between Kullu and Manali. Here's a view of the river with a little island which is used as a camp for tourists. The river was gushing down, water was little muddy, result of the rain I guess.

At one point, the river went out sight.. what a glorious sigh this was. This was shot in motion. Oh by the way, all these pictures are from Moto-Z.

We entered the monastery campus just before noon I guess. Two senior monks - Norbu La and Sangye La -met me here, in front of the temple. I'd spoken to them but meeting in person for the first time. I felt honored to staying here and working with the monks.

Norbu La showed me to my room in the guest house, a simple building with a ground floor and first floor. My room was the last one on the first floor, with a wonderful view of the valley towards Kullu.

The monastery is situated on the slop of a mountain. These are the mountains behind the monastery and in the front is the valley where Beas flows swiftly. The landscape is covered with apple and plum orchards, owned by small farmers. On the mountain on the left is a village where most houses are traditional structures. The only modern touch is the presence of cell phone towers. As I scanned the mountain, a plan to explore the scene formed.

After settling in the guesthouse, I made a visit to the site which was just above the temple. I met the local contractor Rajesh and his team. For the work for which I was here, material was in transit and my main work was to keep track of the status until it arrived. Having updated the monks, I had some time to look around the monastery. I bumped into this little monk. He seemed to be as brave as a lion. Look at the confident look.

Another little monk, this was one camera shy.In the background are the snow-capped mountains on the other side of the valley. In fact all the mountains on the opposite had snow on them.. the foot hills of Himalayas.

This is the highest point of the monastery. This is the crown of the temple - the golden wheel of Dharma and golden deer. The mountain summits touch the cloud line. On those mountains are roads, orchards, houses and hamlets. Everything looks so still.. such is the size of these mountains.

The weather changed from the time I arrived here. The clouds were clearing and the Sun came out. However, the sun set around 3-30. Yes, the sun went behind the mountains, and this side of the hill was in shadow. Temperature dropped rapidly. By 5-45 it was dark and the temperature must have been 10°C. After 6-30 the monastery is still unless the monks are practicing in groups or prayers happening in the temple.

The evening I had an early dinner and ready to hit the sack by 9-45. Norbu La had given a room heater, it would've been difficult to keep warm without one. Also, the cook had given a flask of hot water for the night. The monks made sure I was comfortable :)

I was lying flat after 36 hours, just slipped into the dreamworld.
.........

Kolar Someshwara Devastana - part-3

..continued from Kolar Someshwara Devastana - part-2.

Someshwara temple is probably the biggest temple of Kolar town. The temple's history goes back to XIV Century, it was built during by Vijayanagara rulers. The temple is as grand as any of the major temples in Hampi. The temple consists of the following-

• a grand gateway with a tall Gopura
• Maha Stambha, monolith pillar in front of the main temple
• the main temple dedicated to Lord Someshwara
• a smaller temple dedicated to Parvati Devi
• Vasantha Mantapa
• Kalyana Mantapa
• shelter along the western and northern walls for visitors
• a spacious yard around the temple
• Kalyani, stepped well

The temple also has a variety of trees which create a peaceful ambiance. Pushpa and I went around leisurely, looking at every pillar and wall in the main temple. Then we came to the rear side of the main temple to see the Kalyana Mantapa - the pillared wedding hall.

Its a  small structure but a very grand one. It has fourteen pillars, ten outer pillars and four inner pillars, a stage for performing wedding rituals and a staircase with a balustrade.

This is the balustrade with a spiral and an imaginary creature. Anyone climbing the stairs should feel and look important.

This is the pillared stage. While the pillars are yellowish, the inner pillars are grey in color. The grey stone seems to be harder than the yellow stone. This is like a Mantapa inside a Mantapa.

One look at the inner Mantapa can leave you stunned. The detailing of this complex form is so elaborate, you would be at loss of words to describe it. Except the stage floor and outer ceiling, every other part is sculpted, surely master sculptors' work.

Another view of the floor giving a glimpse of the shade and the ceiling.

This is the base of one of the inner columns. The pillar is held by strong men, so there are eight such characters in all. Check out the complex form of the pillar and platform. How the artisans of those days designed and made them is truly a wonder.

Slightly above the strong men are the vases filled with flowers. Vases similar to this can be seen in monuments at Bijapur and Bidar, both sculpted and painted ones.

Then there are Devatas with Kiritas. The crown seen here is somewhat like a temple Shikhara. The detailing of jewelry is marvelous. Then on the beams are these hive like formations, each beam has a pair of such work. Not sure what their function is. I do not remember seeing such work anywhere else, not even Hampi.

The projecting roof shade sculpted to make it look like wood. The beam like lines depict the rafters of a wooden roof. Notice the serpent slithering on the rafters? That's a nice little touch.

Coming to the stage. It has a boundary of dark colored stone. Each side has a floral pattern Rangoli like sculpture at the mid point.

These are the four designs. Each of them are lovely. With what tools did they get the precise measurements? Wondering how the sculptors were trained. Did they specialize in particular art forms.. like human figures, floral and geometrical forms, wildlife and imaginary creatures, etc.

This is the dome of the inner Mantapa. For some reason the dark colored stone has a white coating. Probably some intelligent guy applied lime. That's the only possibility I see. How sad.. will people ever realize lime damages stones! Octagon is one of the favorite for ceilings. Within the octagon are concentric bands and a hub. Surely there's some reason to make a wedding hall this grand. The reason could be to pull in cosmic energy.

We spent about 25 minutes admiring the Kalyama Mantapa. Time to move on. This is the view seen from the wedding hall- the main temple's Shikhara, the Natya Mantapa, Sabha Mantapa and the Gopura. Wondering how many it took to build this temple complex. 4 years? 8 years?

We checked out the sculptures on the outer wall of Natya Mantapa. Pushpa decided to shoot a video along the outer wall.

Here's a collage of few works which caught my attention. An ascetic attired in a panchi, eyes closed, arms raised, palms joined.. he's in bliss. The top-right image is a Kirtimikha sheltering a round faced man with big eyes, large nose and a gentle smile. The other image is of a tiny man holding up a beam.

Besides the main temple is a smaller temple which is dedicated to Parvati, Shiva's wife. This temple has simple but well built.This seems to be built much later, as an add on to the complex.

Of the three platforms here, one carries a pillar. Need to understand the purpose of these.

Having spent an hour and half in silence, it felt good. It was time to leave and head back home. As we stepped out of the temple gateway, I noticed the Kalyani on the left hand side, right besides the temple wall. This is the fort like wall of Someshwara temple.

The ill maintained Kalyani. If local people took some interest, formed groups and cleaned during weekends, the monument would be thankful.

It was a nice trip, worth the hours we spent. Back home while checking out Antara Gange on Google Maps, I discovered another temple in the hills west of Kolar. The temple complex is big and seems to be in fairly good condition. Should visit it once.

.........