Festival at Hemis Monastery
Christopher Wilmot Sitwell, Destination Expert
The climax of a ten day journey through Ladakh: the annual festival at Hemis Monastery. The Tibetan world seemed to be streaming into this magnificent building.
So different from the solitude which we had experienced at monasteries in far flung valleys during the previous week. In every valley during our trip we had experienced the peace and tranquillity of some of the remotest places of worship on Earth.
Sometimes accompanied by the hum of monk's chanting but more often with just the sounds from the village below, we had been the only visitors to most of the monasteries we entered and had stepped back in time and breathed in centuries of worship and meditation.
After walking and rafting in some of the most spectacular and least populated mountain scenery in the world, it is strange to see such a crowd. Monks and visitors alike are full of anticipation as the dances are acted out in the courtyard just as they have been for centuries.
A novice monk leans over my shoulder to tell the story of each dance. But the narrative seems less important to this non-Buddhist than the fact that its power still endures with so many pilgrims who have made their various journeys to this place at this special time.
