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Ladakh - Planning The Trip

Over 2000 Km by road, in around 10 days. Stunning landscapes, wonderful people. That sums up our Ladakh trip. But how did it actually work? How did we make it happen? Read on to find out!  Leh, the capital of Ladakh , is accessible by air and road. Flying into Leh is the easiest, and time-saving option, while the road is the time consuming one, but with the added advantage of driving past some of the most beautiful landscapes in our country. Each option has much to recommend it, and we chose the road for just one reason – altitude sickness. Altitude sickness was one of my biggest concerns, since I suffer from motion-sickness. Yes, I do travel a lot, but that is despite my condition, and, over the years, have learnt how to handle it. I struggled with it when we visited Nathu-La in Sikkim, and wondered if I would be able to manage a week at the even higher altitudes that we would encounter in Ladakh. This was the reason we stuck to a basic plan, of only 9 days in Ladakh, thoug...

Kanheri - Stories in Stone

The caves at Kanheri are awe-inspiring . To begin with, there are over a hundred, spread over three hills! Then, there is the fact that they were in use for over a millennium! Add to this the wonderful art in the caves which still remains, after centuries of neglect. Taken together, Kanheri is a fascinating place, one that makes us want to delve further into its history and its stories. An inscription from Cave 3, Kanheri

The Art of Kanheri

The stories of Kanheri are spread over time and space. They begin somewhere in the 1 st century B.C.E., when the first monks passed by, and stayed in caverns hidden in these hills. Then came others, who excavated these caves, to live in, to study, and to promote their religion, to discuss their beliefs. Time passed, and as the social and political scene changed, Kanheri changed too. The caves spread over three hills, then satellite settlements began, and patrons came from far and wide. Inscriptions talk of donors who came all the way from Central Asia, the North East Frontier region and Eastern India. Along them came their influences, which are seen in the art of Kanheri. A Stupa in Cave 36, with remnants of paintings on the ceiling

Kanheri - First Impressions

I stood at the foot of the steps , looking up at the mountain. The caves carved into it centuries ago were just visible, and, for the umpteenth time that morning, I reflected on the irony, that I had grown up almost right under the shadow of these mountains, yet it had taken me so many years to actually come here. My mother’s refrain “There’s a time for everything” constantly echoed in my head, as I followed the others up the flight of steps which would lead us to the Kanheri Caves. I was glad, at least, that though delayed, I was visiting the caves to attend a three day site seminar by Dr. Suraj Pandit, one of the foremost experts on Kanheri.