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..
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