The influence of religion !
As I covered the cities and the places around, I was easily able to see the dominance of the Buddhism/Lamaism on the people residing on the exotic land. It was an interesting fact that till Kargil, I was able to see the influence of Islam but as soon as I entered Ladakh, Buddhism was found everywhere.

Infact one might say that as Kashmiri look towards Mecca, Ladakhi looks to Lhasa. Lamaism is a form of Buddhism influenced by the pare-Buddhist Bon religion of Tibet. As I discussed the history of the Buddhism with one of the priest, I found that Lamaism came to Ladakh around the 10th century.

The Parts!!
Another important factor that came into light was that Buddhism in Ladakh is divided into part- the Hinyana and the Mahayana. The aim of the Hinayanis is to look after their own nirvana, or enlightenment, the Mahayanis believe in nirvana of all living creatures to be their aim and objective.

When I used to watch television programmes, I used to find small Ladaki children draped in red. And this had somehow created an inquistivness in me, and forced me to ask one of the monks about it.He told me that boys who enters the monastery as young as three or four don the red robes and that they wear for life long. After 30-40 years of study and clearing the final test, they are then qualified to senior position as Lamas.

As I covered a special feature of the on the Buddhist Monasteries, that vividly depicted the existence of Buddhism in the state. The Ladakh had some really good gompas including the Hemis, Alchi Gompa, Monastery Likir, Cave Monastery.

Buddhist Monasteries in Ladakh
Since I knew that Ladakh is dominated by the Buddhist religion, I was quite sure that it must be having some monasteries. As I researched through net and travel books, I found there are number of monasteries that I could be cover. So I planned a special episode featuring only the monasteries scattered in Ladakh. As I was new to the place, I took a guide that could help me in covering the monasteries .

The Gopas!
The first monasteries that I covered was the Hemis Gompa. My guide, told me that Hemis is one of the largest monasteries in Ladakh built in 1630. As I stayed in Hotel Shamba- La, a beautiful leisure hotel, in Ladakh, it took me just 15 minutes to reach the place. Well this was a special monastery as I covered the famous Hemis Festival that commemorates the birth of Guru Padmasambhava, held for two days in June- July. The guide told me that this monastry was founded in 17th century and belong to Drukpa order.

"Listen! focus the statue of Lord Buddha and the stupas" I ordered my cameraman. Well, the point of focusing the Buddha and the stupas was merely that they were marvelous. The Buddha statue was made in copper and the stupas were in gold and silver.

The Golden bell!!
The next monatery that I covered was the Phuthal complex. It is the most isolated monastic establishment of Zanskar and was built in 12th century. This unique monastry was inhabited by 40 monks.

The guide also took me to the Alchi gompa. He informed me that this gompa was built by the great translator Ringchen Zangpo. The place is famous for its paintings and architecture that has Indian and Kashmiri influence on them . Well, I was quite impressed by the three images that were as high as the three floors of the buildings. Well, the place was quite exotic and I covered the all the nearby monuments of interest.

I especially liked shooting for the Leh Palace, that rises from the edge of the hill overlooking the town. Since it was so uniquely placed I covered the exteriors of the palace from all the angles I could. As far as the history of the palace was concerned, the guide told me that this palace was built in 17th century and had nines storeys. He also told me that it was a home to the royal family until they were exile to stok in the 1830.

The other monastries that I covered in my photoshoot was Sankar Gompa, Shey Gompa, Phugtal Gompa Namgyal, Tsemo Gompa, Rezong Monastery Likir Gompa, Lamayuru Karsha Gompa, Leh Palace, Spituk Stakna Thiksey.