Kangra Valley – Dharamshala

      

        Dharamshala is a beautiful town nestling in the shadow of the majestic Dhauladhar mountain range. This scenic town is surrounded by hills covered with pine, deodhar, Himalayan oak and rhododendron. As the name suggests this town is truly a ‘spiritual sanctuary’.

            Though the literary meaning of the word ‘dharam + shala’ is spiritual sanctuary, in common parlance, it means a rest house for pilgrims.  Long, long ago, the Katoch rulers of this region had built a rest house for the pilgrims who came to visit Hanuman Tibba and the Bhagsunath temple. After the British annexed Kangra, they stationed a garrison in the Kangra fort.  Later, the British raised a native regiment and needed a camp to house them. (Obviously the native regiment could not be stationed at Kangra Fort along with the all white regiment.).  Looking around, they came upon this stretch of land which had nothing but an old Hindu rest house.  What could be better than this? So of course they took it over and constructed barracks for the ‘native soldiers’, and adopted the name ‘Dharamshala’.

       The British civilians attached to the army as well as the officers, were attracted by the  beauty of this region – the snow capped mountains, the many streams and the waterfalls, the lakes and the woods and most of all the salubrious climate. All this reminded them of ‘home’ and they started constructing homes for themselves in this area. Thus came into being places like Forsyth Ganj and MacLeod Ganj. These small towns which were bustling towns during the British Raj, fell into obscurity after independence until 1959 when events in Tibet put Dharamshala firmly on the world map.

       In 1959, when China annexed Tibet, the 14^th Dalai Lama escaped to India and sought asylum. The then Prime Minister of India, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru gave him land in Dharamshala. The Dalai Lama with his followers soon settled here and Dharamshala did indeed become a political as well as a spiritual sanctuary for the Tibetans. They built monasteries and temples and religious schools to replace the ones left behind and lost to them forever. They even set up their own government in exile and have elections once in every five years. (The election for the next parliament and Prime Minister in exile is due next month.)

Naadi - view from our hotel

          We stayed at Naadi a small village a short distance from Dharamshala.  The first evening at Dharamshala, we went to the Kotwali Market at MacLeod Ganj. This is a busy shopping area, with narrow, roads with shops on either sides. Also there are a number of eatries- all kinds, Indian, Italian, Tibetan, Domino’s Cafe Coffee Day, Pastry shops as well as roadside vendors selling momos and fried fish and meat tikkas. In the midst of this bustling market area was an island of peace and quiet – a Stupa a lovely red and gold building. The red prayer wheels were set in the wall right on the street, and there were steps leading up to the shrine. The shrine was on the second floor. We climbed up the narrow stairs and reached a hall on the first floor. The walls were painted brightly with scenes from the Buddhist epics. We then went up to the shrine which had an idol of a serene Buddha.  We noticed that many bowls of water (ordinary drinking water) had been placed in front of the idol as offering. Other than water, the Buddha had been offered foodstuff like McVities Digestive Biscuits, Real Fruit Juice, Cream Biscuits etc. All this was kept on display in a glass case. (We later noticed this in all the temples we visited.) After this, we wandered down the street, went into various shops and generally spent the evening getting a feel of the place. The place was very clean and the people very friendly.

          The next day, we first visited Temple of Gyuto Tantric University. This monastery is at Sidbari.  It is the seat of the Karmapa (meaning ‘the embodiment of all the activities of all the buddhas’) and so also known as the Karmapa Temple.  This red and gold temple with the Dhauladhar Mountains rising behind it and the clear blue sky above made a very striking picture.  

        The temple is a huge well-lit hall, reached after climbing a number of steps. The central idol was that of Shakyamuni Buddha in a sitting posture.  There was a picture of the Dalai Lama in front of this idol. Behind the central idol, were various idols of their Gurus, of the Kalachakra or Mahakal deity and other figures from the Buddhist lore.  Here too were a number of water filled bowls kept as offering in front of each deity. I was curious as to the significance of this. A Tibetan couple came in to offer prayers. So I approached them and asked about the water bowls. He explained that water symbolized purity, the act of giving freely. Water was freely available, so all rich or poor could afford to offer water to the Lord. Also, when a devotee offered water, he could do so without thinking of the cost involved and not feel proud of the fact that he had offered something expensive, as everyone’s offering was the same; there was no place for ego when water was offered; yet another reason was that as, water was the most important thing for life, one offered what was important. I thought that this was a very beautiful concept, one which stressed on the equality of all before God.

     Our next stop was the Norbulingka Institute. This was set up to preserve the Tibetan language, culture and traditional literary and art forms. It is named after the Dalai Lama’s summer palace in Lhasa. Norbulingka means ‘The Jeweled Park’ and this institute is set in a gracefully landscaped, Japanese inspired garden. The ground plan is based on the proportions of Avalokiteshwara, the God of Compassion, with the temple at the head.

       The Institute has workshops and trains young Tibetans in statue making, Thangka painting, wood carving, craft etc.  The various art objects made by the apprentices in these workshops are sold at the Norbulingka Store for the benefit of the refugees.

      The Losel Toy Museum has diorama displays of traditional Tibetan scenes – miniature dolls dressed in traditional costumes.

       The heart of the Institute is the ‘Seat of Happiness Temple’. It has murals of Buddha and scenes from the life of the 14^th Dalai Lama. In the main hall is ahuge, gilded Buddha Sakyamuni statue.

     The whole complex, set in the peaceful garden, is a place of beauty and serenity.

     

  After a tasty lunch at the Tibetan Kitchen in McLeod Ganj, we went to see the most important place, the place which attracts thousands of tourists (specially international) to Dharamshala - Tsuglag Khang Temple or the Dalai Lama’s Temple in the Namgyal Monastery.

       The Namgyal Monastery is the Dalai Lama’s personal monastery.  This complex houses the Tibet Museum, The School of Buddhist studies, where young monks master the Buddhists Sutra and Tantra, the Dalai Lama’s residence and of course the the Dalai Lama’s Temple.

Mural-Memorial for Tibetan Martyrs

 

       As we entered the complex, we noticed that it was very crowded. We first visited the museum.  On display here are hundreds of photographs, texts and posters on all matters related to Tibetan history and culture, and to the occupation of Tibet by China. After a tour of the museum, we went up to the temple and were taken aback seeing the long queue waiting to enter the shrine. The temple was packed with monks and lay worshippers. We were told that the crowd was because it was the last day of the Tibetan New Year celebrations. If we visited the temple the next day, there would be no crowds. So we went away deciding to come the next morning before leaving for Amritsar. In the evening we went to watch the sunset from the sunset point at Nadi.  Unfortunately, it was cloudy so we did not get to see the spectacular sunset that attracts the tourists.

       The next morning we again went to the Dalai Lama’s Temple. There were only monks praying and meditating, no lay devotees. We peacefully went round the temple and then entered it. The central idol is that of the Sakyamuni (gilded) in a sitting posture with a look of utter peace and a serene smile.  To the right of this idol are two other images. One is the silver statue of Avalokiteshwara-Deity of Compassion- with eleven faces and a thousand hands. The other is that of Padmasambhava- Guru Rimpoche. Both these images are seated facing the direction of Tibet. In cupboards behind the altar are kept ancient manuscripts of the Buddhists Sutras that the Dalai Lama and the monks smuggled out with them when they fled Tibet. The columns in the temple have beautiful Thangka paintings.  There were hundreds of monks reading their prayer books. The single minded devotion of the monks, the tranquil ambience and the imposing figures of the Buddha all fascinate and make a tremendous impression on the tourist even if one is not particularly inclined towards this religion.

            Adjoining this temple is the Kalachakra temple. This too has an image of the Buddha sitting in a meditating posture. The central image is that of Kalachakra. The walls have fresco decorations of Tibetan deities. The pillars have traditional Thangka paintings.

       Dharamshala is a beautiful, clean, peaceful place. The people are warm and friendly, and proud of their land. We were told that during the tourist season, the locals – adults and children - go around the tourist spots picking up the litter and cleaning the areas. There is not much of pollution, though we were told that it had not snowed in Nadi for the past seven years. (Nadi village, being in the higher reaches, used to experience light snowfall and sleet in winter.) The towering mountains, the fresh green woods, the friendly people, the calm monks, all add to the charm of Dharamshala and make the tourist reluctant to leave this serenely spiritual place.