A Journey to a Himalayan
Monastery
Tabo, A
name which war there in my memory bank, suddenly flashed in my mind when I
received orders to proceed to Himachal Pradesh to carry out glaciological
investigations in Lahaul and Spity district. Somewhere I had read in a
travelogue, descriptions of this remote place famous for its ancient monastery.
My happiness knew no bounds because it was like a dream coming true. We left for
Manali, which is a gateway for Lahaul and Spity. The approach to Tabo from this
route has an added advantage of getting a chance to cross two famous
passes.
The
first one is Rohtang pass situated 50 km north of Manali. Almost everybody who
comes to Manali visits this pass to get a hang of high altitude. Rohtang is at
around 3,920 meters above sea level. During early summer (between June and July)
Rohtang has fairly thick cover of last year’s snow, which eventually thaws and
vanishes by the end of August. With the onset of winter (by the end of October)
this pass closes down for vehicular traffic thereby isolating Lahaul and Spity
for more than six months. Rohtang pass is actually a water divide between two
mighty river systems of Himalayas. In the southern side of the pass we have Beas
(Vipasa) river system on the banks of which Manali is situated. River Chandra,
which originates at Chandra –tal, has carved its course on the northern side of
this pass. A few km further downstream the river Bhaga at Tandi joins Chandra
and from here onwards it is called Chandra-Bhaga or
Chenab.
Passes are discussed in detail because they are not mere water divides. Each pass in Himalayas has a unique character and a story to tell. Kunjum la (la in vernacular dialect means pass), the other pass, is around six hours drive from Manali via Rohtang. It, besides being a water divide, separates two very contrasting ecosystems. Locally the north-south trending Himalayas here forms the divide. To the west of it (in the domain of river Chandra), the dominant ecosystem is Alpine whereas in the east we have Arctic conditions. Tall pine and deodar trees interspersed with grassy meadows is the colossus of Lahaul. As one descends down Kunjum trees start vanishing and further downstream of river Spity even the grassland becomes scarce. Besides high mountains on both the sides of the river, small pyramidal ridges with characteristic wind carved spiky apex confront you, as if they are reminding you of the Trishul of Lord Shiva, the nature’s symbolic logo for the land of ascetics. The transition from green grassy land to arid and cold desert was generating a profound sense of awe in my psyche. The journey from one side of Kunjum to the other was like transcending from colours to the eternal gray.
Different
ecosystems generate different response in my psyche. The two canopy forests of
the Audh (where I presently reside) and the green Alpine ecosystem of Himalayas
stir different cords of emotion. The former to me is like the lap of mother
earth where the child in me wants to hide. The latter with snow peaks and high
rising deodars is the colossal beauty of an “Apsara”, always attracting me with
her irresistible charm and perhaps that explains the exodus of ascetics (who
aspire to become “indrajeet”) towards Himalayas. The ultimate denial carries
meaning only if the charm is confronted in its supreme
form.
True to
my expectations, mystique was getting dense in the air as I was nearing Tabo.
Spity, the sparsely populated forbidden land of yore, generated the same feeling
which had struck my consciousness when I visited Rajgeer (Rajagraha- the ancient
seat of power in the Bihar State founded by the great Magadha ruler Ajatshatru).
The giant wheel of time has crushed Rajgeer completely but spared Tabo. Spity in
vernacular Bhoti is spelt as Spity and pronounced as ‘Piti’ which means, ‘middle
country’. It was and is the abode of mortals who are destined to live at a
higher platform. Rights for the highest are reserved only for
gods.
In the
realm of eternal gray in the cold desert of Spity the philosopher in me was
gradually talking over. This is the platform (Tibetan plateau) where I can
fathom the depths of Lord Krishna’s teachings of non-attachment and the
“nirvana” of Lord Buddha. How much success was achieved should go the grave with
me. Though I must admit here that the human gene faces the ultimate challenge
here to exhibit its deftness in adaptation. It was a long journey but there was
no sign of fatigue in me. Finally the Manali-Shimla bus (HPTC runs at least one
bus a day from either side, jeep safari are also available from Manali) made a
halt at the bus stand.
Tabo is a small hamlet in the lap of mighty Himalayas. Tibet is just 25 km from here and its culture dominates the lives of local populace. It has a nicely maintained Dharmshala run by the Buddhist missionary. Hungry and unable to control my saliva, I dumped my rucksack in one of the rooms and dashed to the restaurant down stairs. I had my first encounter with the Tibetan food two years ago at Udaipur in the Miyar valley (downstream of Chandra in Lahaul and Spity). The specialties in Tibetan food are momo, thuckpa and jumma. Momo is meat stuffed, boiled samosa while thuckpa is a noodle soup, which can satiate the appetite of vegetarians and carnivores. The restaurant had an international crowd. In places like Tabo one encounters a different class of tourists. Both Indians and foreigners who tread so far inside are not simply holidaymakers. “Great things are done when men and mountains meet. This is not done by jostling in the street.” Nothing can describe more lucidly the mental makeup of the tourists of this kind than these lines of William Blake. They are travelers who have genuine curiosity so the process of mixing is very fast. Curious people are curious to exchange ideas. A photographer from France advised me to get up early if the morning prayers are not to be missed. With the promise to see each other at the monastery early in the morning, we bid good night. I knew beforehand that I would not be able to make it. My last night was spent at 5,200 m above sea level at the glacier camp and Tabo is at lower altitude warranting acclimatization. Sufficient time and rest should be given to our body at each stage (at different altitudes) while negotiating the higher reaches in the Himalayas. As the saying goes in the Himalayas “there is no Gama in the land of Lamas”. Sometimes the neglect may turn out to be fatal. A French lady inmate of the monastery’s lodge was complaining of acute pain below the armpit. The local doctor was suspecting a bubble formation at the site of pain. Her husband was desperately trying to contact the insurance agency for the airlift. The lesson to be learnt from this episode is “take it easy is not the policy meant for the far-flung places like Tabo.
As was
expected I woke up late and was slightly disappointed. I decided to spend some
time in the library and gather information about this ancient Buddhist culture
center. The aspect, which has impressed me most in the monastic way of the
pursuit of truth in Buddhism, is the presence of libraries. After spending two
hours in the library I decided to meet the Lamas and pay a visit to the ancient
monastery. Prayers are offered in the ancient monastery during winter when the
whole area is covered under snow and there are hardly any visitors. The Buddhist
missionary has built a new monastery where prayers are being offered during rest
of the season. The Lama invited me to attend the second session of the prayer at
4 p.m. He also told me about the existence of cave shrines on the slope of the
mountains. The most prominent and interesting among them is Phoo Gompha because
it contains beautiful murals hidden in the darkness of the cave. In order to
capture the fantastic well paintings professional advice was sought from the
French photographer, which he gave but declined to accompany me. After taking
the photographs I climbed further ahead to collect fossils. My last day was very
fruitful as I could take the photographs of the less known murals from the cave
shrine and was lucky enough to locate fossils in one
attempt.
My last dinner at Tabo became a jam session as I became “the fossil man” and it was expected of me to answer the queries of all the fellow inhabitants. Discussion lasted longer than usual and the owner of the restaurant finally begged to the whole congregation to call it a day. With heavy heart and with the promise to keep the spirit and flag of adventure high, I bid farewell to the gathering and went to my room, as I had to get up early to catch the bus.