Lamayuru Gompa

Lamayuru Gompa, originally uploaded by The Wandering Hermit.

Built in the 10th Century by two practitioners of Tantric Buddhism it is located in the most fantastic geological folds and schist's rock surroundings and popularly called MOONSCAPE and it certainly looks like an alien planet..
Lamayuru also marks the meeting place of the Great Himalayan Wall & of the East Karakorum Ranges.

I've been through Lamayaru 5 times now but have never once seen the light or the color of the landscape remain same.. It is always different but never fails to makes you gasp in awe each time you pass through or decide to stay...
The gompa itself has been undergoing renovations for the last 2 years and now is restored completely
It is located in between Bodhkharbu and Kha-la-che, on a steep rock mountain. It lies at a distance of approximately 127 km to the west of Leh town. Lamayuru Monastery belongs to the Red-Hat sect of Buddhism and houses approximately 150 Buddhist monks. The monastery is made up of a number of shrines and also has a very rich collection of thankas and magnificent wall paintings. At the outset, the Lamayuru Monastery consisted of five buildings, out of which only the central one exists today.

Every year the Lamayuru Gompa plays host a masked dance, which takes place on the 17th and 18th day of the 5th month of Tibetan lunar calendar. The monks from the monasteries of the nearby areas also come to take part in the celebrations. There is an interesting legend associated with the Lamayuru Gompa of Leh Ladakh. It is said that the Lamayuru Valley used to be a clear lake, at the time of Sakhyamuni (the Historical Buddha). And, Nags (holy serpents) used to reside in the lake.

Bodhisattva Madhyantaka had once a prediction quite a long time back that the lake would eventually be dried, making way for the construction of a Buddhist monastery. The legend moves further to state that Mahasiddhacharya Naropa, an 11th century Indian Buddhist scholar, sat in meditation for a number of years in one of the caves in Dukhang. He was the one who caused a crack in the hillside surrounding the lake.

Through this crack, the lake started draining. When the lake dried out, the scholar found a dead lion lying inside it. On the same spot, where he found the tiger, he constructed the first temple of the area, known as the Singhe Ghang (Lion Mound). Another legend has it that the building of Lamayuru Monastery was constructed, as per the instructions of King of Ladakh, under the direction of Rinchen Zangpo, the Translator. After this, the monastery came under the administration of the Zhwa-mar-pa (Red Hats).

Later, Dharmaraja Jamyang Namgial offered the monastery to Chosje Danma. And this led to the observance of the rituals of the Digung Kargyud School, with the monastery being renamed as Yungdrung Tharpaling. Today, the Lamayuru Monastery is served by the successive reincarnations of Skyabsje Toldan Rinpoche.

Riders Of The Storm

Riders Of The Storm (Duststorm), originally uploaded by The Wandering Hermit.

A sudden dust storm sends both riders and spectators packing from the Polo Ground.

Shiva

Om Namah Shivaye!!, originally uploaded by The Wandering Hermit.

Shiva portrayed as the Mahayogi meditating, A statue in Rishikesh, the gateway to the "DEVBHUMI : The Land of the Gods" where amidst the soaring mountains of Garhwal & Kumoani Himal he is supposed to reside..

Frank Smythe in his now famous book : THE VALLEY OF FLOWERS quotes and old Indian sage who wrote:

Not in a hundred ages of the gods I could not tell thee of all the glories of the Himalaya where Shiva lived and where the Ganga falls from the foot of Vishnu like the slender thread of the lotus flower.

Bhagirathi - I (6512 mtrs)

Bhagirathi - I (6512 mtrs), originally uploaded by The Wandering Hermit.

Bhagirathi I is the farthest peak of the Bhagirathi Sisters group one of the many mountains which make up the Gangotri Group. Though many attempts and routes are tried on the formidable & difficult West Buttress of Bhagirathi III (The rib of the buttress can be seen in these 2 shots), Bhagirathi I has received scant attention.

Routes & Main Ascents:

It was only in 1990 that a Japanese Expedition using nearly 2000 mtrs of rope made the first ascent via its Southeast Ridge.

A small team of Alpinists from Britain made a fine Alpine Style ascent in 1983 via its West Ridge, which gave them some excellent granite but tricky snow climbing. Martin Moran , Charlie Heard & John Mothersdale made the summit in a fine effort without roping up the mountain or fancy ironmongery.. But sadly during the descent Heard fell to his death.
Since then there have been other attempts amongst them some Indian Teams.

Goecha peak (6127 mtrs) at Night

Goecha peak (6127 mtrs) at Night, originally uploaded by The Wandering Hermit.

Goecha Peak (6127 metres) below the towering East Ridge of Kangchenjunga is about a 1000 m higher than the Goecha La Pass.. As of 2001 under the Places of Worship Act the Sikkim Government classified it as a Buddhist Sacred Peak along with
Kanchenjunga (main, south and west summits), Fork Peak, Gabur Gangtsen (Kabur Dome and north and south summits) Mt. Pandim, Paunhari,&; Simvu, Sinochlu, Narsingh and no expeditions are allowed to climb it now.

Sudarshan and Its Neighbours

Rosy Fingered Dawn., originally uploaded by The Wandering Hermit.

Dawn over Sudarshan Parbat (6507mts), Saife (6161mts), Yogeshwar, Chattrabhuj Peaks during the Kalindi Khal Trek going towards Gangotri in the Garhwal Himal, Uttarakhand India
All the peaks except Yogeshwar were climbed by and extremely successful Indo French Expedition in 1981 led jointly by Harish Kapadia & Bernard Odgier this team of 11 climbers climed 5 other peaks in the region..

• Sudarshan Parvat Altitude: 6,507 Mts.

Sudarshan Parvat has beauty as well as challenge. It gets its name from Sudarshan Chakra. the weapon which Lord Krishna or Vishnu holds in his hand. It is believed to be released in the ultimate crisis.. (another theory is that it is named after a Raja of Jumla, Chakra Sudarshan Shahin the the late 18th Century when this region was under the control of the Gurkha kings)
The climbing history of Sudarshan is brief though spread over 19 years. Situated above the Gangotri Temple, it has been a challenge to mountaineers. It was attempted by as many as five expeditions, the last being in 1979 before an Indo -French team jointly led by Harish Kapadia & Bernard Odier made the first ascent in 1981

• Saife Altitude: 6,161 Mts.

South-southeast of Sudarshan Parvat lies a gentle yet deceptive peak. Saife in local language means 'Sword' or the weapon carried by Lord Ram, who is also known as the God with the white complexion-Swetvarna. This peak lies near Koteshwar-'God of the Edges'. Thus with sword edge -like ridges, the name is appropriate.

• Yogeshwar Altitude: 6,678 Mts.

Situated northeast of Sudarshan Parvat lies Yogeshwar. It takes its name from Lord Krishna, in a serene mood and thus can be aptly applied to this high snowy peak. Yogeshwar was first climbed by Ramakant Mahadik in 1991. It was again climbed by a British team in 92. After that there have been no noticeable attempts on these peaks. Yogeswar was climbed by the south side through Shyamvarna glacier its west ridge which connects to Chatubhuj is still unclimbed

• Chaturbhuj Altitude: 6,655 Mts.

Chaturbhuj, situated north of Sudarshan Parvat, literally means ' one with four hands'. This is the name for Lord Vishnu who has four hands and holds the Sudarshan Chakra. This peak has four distinct ridged falling in four directions, thus both mythologically as well as topographically this name is appropriate.

The summit of Chaturbhuj is a conical pyramid, very steep, 15 Mts. long and 2 Mts. high.

Since the first attempts these peaks have become very popular with Indian Teams as they are open peaks and this area remains filled with teams with the season every year.

Satopanth (7075 meters, 23212 feet)

Satopanth (7075 meters, 23212 feet), originally uploaded by The Wandering Hermit.

The Summit Pyramid of Mt. Satopanth lit up in alpenglow during sunset as viewed from high up on neighboring Vasuki Parvat in the Garhwal Himal in Uttarakhand India.

The 7075m high pyramid of Satopanth belongs to the select 7000+ mtrs club and is a spectacularly beautiful peak which is easily recognizable due to its unique summit plateau which stands out distinctly in the sea of sharp spires of the other peaks around it.

As compared to other climbing peaks in the Garhwal Himal it is technically less demanding and has fewer objective hazards than peaks of similar altitude.

Another factor which contributes to its popularity is its relatively easy access from the road head and Vasuki tal is as idyllic a basecamp one can hope for.

For the last few years it has been used for training young alpinists and mountaineers as it gently introduces climbers to that magic 7000 mtrs mark and is a useful training peak frequently used by UIAA and other International Mountaineering Clubs as well as the ones in India for conducting their advanced mountaineering courses.

Satopanth was first climbed in 1947 by the Swiss alpinists Andre Roch and Alexander Graven via the North East ridge, which they called ‘A Ladder to Heaven’, due to its
Aesthetic beauty and summit views.( This expedition also made First ascent of Kedarnath(6940 m), Kalindi Peak (6102 m), Balbala (6414 m), Nanda Ghunti (6310 m), and made a fine attempt on Chaukhamba (7138 m)..

It wasn’t till 34 years till the next ascent was made in 1981 but since then the speed and number of ascents has increased very much with over 10 ascents for the last 5 years every year.

Neelkanth (6596 mtrs)

Neelkanth (6596 mtrs), originally uploaded by The Wandering Hermit.

Elevation 6,596 metres (21,640 ft)
Location Uttarakhand, India
Range Garhwal Himalaya
Prominence 1,200 m (3,940 ft)
Coordinates 30°43′12″N, 79°24′00″E
First ascent June 3, 1974

The Satopanth Glacier lies on the northwest side of Nilkantha, below a 2,500 m (8,200 ft) face of the peak. The Panpatia Glacier lies to the southwest, and feeds the Khir Ganga, a stream running under the south side of the peak. Further away, to the west of the peak, lies the well-known Gangotri Glacier and its associated peaks. Across the Alaknanda valley lie the Kamet and Nanda Devi groups.

A shining pyramid of white crystals, overlooking the famous Badrinath temple in Uttarakhand. It is often called the GARHWAL QUEEN due to its fragile beauty.

That legendary mountaineer Frank Smythe (who made the first attempt to climb this mountain in 1937), called it the most mountain he had ever seen.
Its undeniable beauty often belies its difficulties and make it one of the harder climbs in the Garhwal Himalayas.

With its steep ridges and faces, Nilkantha resisted at least nine climbing attempts, beginning with Frank Smythe in 1937, Hillary & Lowe in 1961.Till last year only 4 successful ascents had been recorded though not for the want of trying. .

The peak was first climbed on by a team of the ITBP (Indo-Tibetan Border Police) led by S.P Chamoli on June 3, 1974 by Sonam Pulzor, Kanhiya Lal, Dilip Singh, and Nima Dorje. After unsuccessfully attempting the west ridge, they reached the summit via the north face, making three camps above base camp.

Last year the first Indian civilian expedition sponsored by the Himalayan Club (Calcutta), made what only the 5th successful ascent was following the route of the Scottish 2000 expedition in an epic 57 hour climb without camps they managed to return after a successful climb.

Panchchuli II (6904 mtrs)

Panchchuli II (6904 mtrs), originally uploaded by The Wandering Hermit.

Elevation 6,904 m (22,651 ft)
LocationPithoragarh, Uttarakhand, India
Range Kumaon Himalaya
Prominence 1,614 m (5,295 ft)
Coordinates 30°12′51″N, 80°25′39″E

The most visible symbol in the Munsyari valley are the peaks of Panch Chuli, as with other peaks in the region these peaks too are revered and are named after the five Pandava brothers from the Indian epic Mahabharata.

The peaks represent their cooking hearths (chulis) where they cooked their last meal before ascending to heaven

Spectacular sunsets & sunrises turn these peaks into Virtual Baskets of Alpenglow and the peak tops almost seem ablaze and its not hard to imagine why they were named thus..

Road Work in Ladakh HIMANK Project.

Road Work in Ladakh HIMANK Project., originally uploaded by The Wandering Hermit.

Every visitor to Ladakh comes away with an awe of the roads in Ladakh.. I for one was blown away the first time I visited there.. marveling at the kind of men required  to build roads in such inhospitable terrain..Most of the road gangs were workers from Bihar who are more used to the heat of the terai plains then to the icy locales of Jammu & Kashmir..
Till 1960, Leh was connected with Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh by mule tracks only. The first jeepable road to Leh from Srinagar was thrown open to traffic on August 1, 1960. In order to construct and develop the road network in Ladakh, BRO (Border Road Organization) was inducted.
Project Himank was raised exclusively for development of road communication and other works of BRO in Ladakh region, in December 1985. The need for creating a separate Border Roads project exclusively for Ladakh arose owing to increased work-load in the region. The quantum of work and long distances from road-head and inhospitable terrain was just another roadblock to be overcome
Project Himank, with its HQ at Leh, was given the task of creating and maintaining roads and airfields in the most inhospitable terrain in the world, where most of its roads are above 10000 to 18000 feet in height. In such altitudes, the efficiency of men and machine is adversely affected due to lack of oxygen in the rarefied air and extreme cold conditions created as a result of high altitude and icy high velocity winds. The long harsh winter of seven to eight months permits a working season of only five months from June to October. The summer temperature rarely exceeds 32 degree centigrade and winter temperatures plummets to minus 30 degree centigrade with the temperature at Drass falling to minus 50 degree centigrade; thus earning for it the distinction of being “the second coldest inhabited place in the world”.
In such adverse working conditions and hardly a working season to write home about,
Project Himank is unique by itself as all the roads of the Project are located in high altitude areas. The Project boasts of the highest motorable road in the world at Khardungla at a height of 18380 feet.
One of the most challenging and demanding tasks of the Project is snow clearance. There are nine major passes in the jurisdiction of the Project.
These are 

the notorious Zoji La (11578 feet) (Where in 1948 in what is now known as "Project Bison" saw Indian Army Tanks managing to cross the pass on a trail built by the Indian Sappers in nearly impossible conditions and this action saved the Ladakh Region from the encroaching Pakistani Army Units .) ,
Namika La (12200 feet),
Fotu La (13497 feet),
Hamboting La (13620 feet),
Khardung La (18380 feet),
Chang La (17356 feet),
Kajukongta La (16626 feet),
Taglang La (17582 feet),
Lachalung La (16616 feet) and