Emerging dramatically from a mountain side on the rocky part of a gorge of the Lingti-Tsarap Chu, a major tributary of the Zanskar river, is the magnificent Buddhist monastery, Phuktal. This surreal projection, resembling a honeycomb, forms the highlight of the trek from Darcha to Padum via the expansive snowy fields of Shingu La (16, 600ft.). This Monastery lies in the south eastern Zanskar region in the Ladakh District of Jammu and Kashmir, and takes five days to reach by foot from the nearest roadhead.
This Gompa houses 70 lamas and was consecrated by the visit of sages, scholars and translators such as Padmasambhava, Phakspa Nestan Durdan, Milarepa’s teacher Lama Marpa who lived in these caves, over a thousand years ago. The 16 Arhats, the perfect ones who were the legendary followers of the Buddha lived here and their images decorate the walls of the caves.
The shrine and an inside view of the Phuktal Monastery (for Hidden in the himalayas column by Vrinda and J Ramanan)
Supernatural gift
The three scholarly brothers, Dangson, Pun and Sum who were blessed with the supernatural gift of flying, expounded their Dharma Teachings here and departed after bequeathing this sacred shrine to Jangsem Sherap Zangpo, a Tibetan Buddhist Guru. Zangpo made the cave grow larger, divined a spring to run in the cave and a tree to grow above the cave. Phuk means ‘cave’ and tal means ‘leisure’. There is also a second name Phuktar where Tar means ‘liberation’.
This mystical mud and wood construction remained hidden, until the 19th Century Hungarian historian Alexander Csoma de Koros, the pioneer of Tibetan studies and the author of the first Tibetan-English Dictionary visited this hermitage. He lived here from 1826-27 and made it known to the rest of the world. The monks of the Blue hat manage this monastery that has four prayer rooms, a library with rare Buddhist manuscripts and an old chapel. There is a chamber above dedicated to Ma Kali. The natural spring inside flows over and sprays on the outside during the rainy season creating an ethereal setting.
It is open only for four months from July to mid-October, and is snowbound for the rest of the year.
The writers are ace photographers known for their travelogues
