A day of rest and a short trek to Nadi, which we didn’t even complete, we were determined to do something more productive in Dharamsala, the last destination of our Himachal trip.

We found out the possible places we can go, and we decided to head to Kareri lake, which is around 33 kms away from Dharamsala. On the way to Kareri, the plan was to stop by St Johns Church, Norbulingka Institute and Gyuto Monastery, which are in and around Dharamsala.

We didn’t have too many days left, so the only option was to cover these places in a taxi. Fortunately close to our guest house in Dharamkot, there was one guy who could do the arrangements for us. He charged Rs 1400 for four people.

Church of St John in the Wilderness

The taxi picked us up from our guest house around 10 am, and we headed to the ancient church of St John in the Wilderness, built during the British rule in 1852. The church is located 7 kms upward from Dharamsala, between Forsyth Ganj and Mcleod Ganj. Situated amidst deodar forest and built in neo-Gothic architecture, the church reminded me of the stone structures in Goa.

The beautiful stained glass windows of the church are well known, they are donated by Lady Elgin, wife of Lord Elgin, who was the Governor-General and Viceroy of India in 1861. We couldn’t enter the church since it was closed at that time, so we moved on the memorial. Lord Elgin loved the place so much that he choose to be buried here in 1863. This is his memorial. Inscription on a old bell which was reinstalled in the church compound in 1915. The earlier bell tower was destroyed in the 1905 Kangra earthquake. On our way out, we saw a very interesting sight, a white spider had just caught a bee and was feasting on it. Such sights are pretty rare.

Norbulingka Institute – Little Tibet

Located around 15 kms from McLeod Ganj at Sidhpur, near Dharamsala is Norbulingka Institute. Initially we had no idea what this place was, but after a short walk inside the institute we were transformed into another world.

The institute was founded by the Dalai Lama in 1988 to preserve the Tibetan culture and its artistic traditions. This was basically to fill the gap between Old and New Tibet, after the Tibetan government-in-exile was formed in India. The main gate itself is a fine example of Tibetan’s artistic skill. The gateway to Norbulingka is just a start to give you a deep insight into Tibetan culture. On entering you will feel that you are enclosed in tranquil surroundings. The Norbulingka garden bears semblance to a Japanese garden, with the use of rocks, trees, flowers, flowing water all creating a peaceful atmosphere. The complex is surrounded by pretty flowers. In the midst of this setting were artists painting various Buddhist deities. The paintings were as colorful as the buildings in the institute. Norbulingka offers training in Tibetan statue making, wood carving, wood and metal craft, thangka painting, applique, etc.

Wood-carving Workshop

We walked ahead to see more of the place, as the excitement was building up. We took the bridge that connects to another section, each building here was ornately decorated with bright colours. We first entered the wood carving workshop which seemed like serious work. It was unbelievable to witness something so intricately done with absolute precision and craftsmanship. Here you can see young Tibetan boys carving out the lines of the drawing on wooden surface using the traditional bamboo fret saw and a wide range of sharpened chisels. There were several rooms where wood-carving was going on, they create altars, cabinets, religious thrones and a variety of tables with some crazy designs on them. Some of the finished work was suspended on the wall, they are either polished or painted with colour. You can see how elaborate it is, the apprentice begin by learning to draw the Eight Auspicious Symbols of Buddhism, Seven Jewelled Pairs, and Four Harmonious Brothers and then they gradually move on to carving wood.
Metal Scluptures

Just adjacent to wood-carving workshop was another skilled art form, creating metal sculptures. Work was on in full swing as they were making statue of a Buddhist deity. The design is first drawn on paper and then transferred to the copper sheet which is then shaped using hammer and shaping tools. Large statues are mounted on a hollow wooden frame to give form and support, before adorning it with garments and jewelry.
Its not as easy as it sounds, because students have to learn various processes to shape the metal into the desired form. The Tibetans certainly possessed lot of talent, skill and ability to create stunning masterpieces, which were symbolic of Buddhism.

Losel Doll Museum

From the interesting workshops we moved on to Losel doll museum, an exhibition of costumed dolls depicting various costumes and activities of the people in various regions of Tibet. There are also enactments of religious events, festivals, lifestyle, and their daily life. This display was of the 47th king of Tibet, King Tri Relbachen. The story goes that he invited many scholars from India to revise the early translations of Buddhist texts. He established more than 30 monasteries and invited artists from Turkestan and Nepal to help decorate them. He also established rules for religious communities and government administration and consolidated relationship with China. In the end he was assassinated at the orders of his brother. Each display told a story about Tibet and its people. We took pictures of every display, but it would be too many to put on the blog, so we selected a few to give you an idea of what the doll museum was all about.

This one is of Milarepa, an 11th century yogi, known for his austerity, high realisation and beautiful poetry. He meditated in caves living only on nettles, rarely disturbed by outsiders. One day, a frightened deer pursued by an angry dog followed by his even angrier master burst into his cave. Milarepa quelled his anger, bringing him peace of mind through his profound and beautiful songs. This display exhibits the costumes and style of dressing of people from Amdo, Golok and Kongpo. Amdo is in the northeast of Tibet, and is known as the land of horses. People in Amdo are known for their literary skills and hard work. Where would be it possible to get such pictorial exhibits of Tibet’s enormous diversity. Even their costumes are so artistic and elaborate! Seat of Happiness Temple

Replicas of the dolls and crafts are for sale at the souvenir shop. Right outside the doll museum is the main attraction of Norbulingka, the Deden Tsuglagkhang temple or ‘Seat of Happiness Temple’. Its an elegant structure like all the Buddhist temples, at the doorway are colorful paintings of deities. As soon as you enter the main prayer hall, the huge 14 ft gilded copper statue of Buddha catches your eye, crafted by the Norbulingka Sculpture Studio. The hall is surrounded by elaborate paintings and murals created by the institute’s thangka painters. There are some 1173 murals of Buddha at this temple. We sat there peacefully to meditate and admire the Buddha statue. The feeling here was very different than Key monastery, I didn’t quite feel the calmness and serenity, but it was good nevertheless. An old man cleaning the lamps outside the temple. The temple had two levels, the second one included various rooms, one had the holy Buddhist scriptures and books neatly placed in the shelves. There was a small passageway, probably for people to stand during a prayer meeting. The walls were decorated with frescoes of all the Dalai Lamas and drawings chronicling the life of the 14th Dalai Lama. On this trip we have discovered so much about Buddhism, that it makes us want to know more about it, perhaps a guided tour of the monastery would help a great deal to understand the significance of the structure, paintings, colours etc. Above the two storeys was the rooftop which had another structure. We felt enlightened after witnessing the rich Tibetan culture. There are pictures to remember the moments, but the actual experience leaves an indelible mark in the mind and heart. It was a fruitful visit to Norbulingka, I said to myself. One can easily spend a day in Norbulingka, but since we had a long journey ahead of us to Kareri village, we had to speed up.

Thangka and Mandala Painting

The next stop before we headed back to the car was the thangka and mandala painting workshop. I was really keen to check out the process of painting a mandala, which is ancient sacred art of the Buddhists.

We were lucky enough to meet the artist who had almost completed creating Kalachakra mandala. The painting was done on a canvas stretched over a wooden frame using a cord. The design for the painting is then drawn directly on the surface using charcoal or pencil, then the lines are redrawn in ink and the details are refined. After the painter starts applying colours and embellishes with gold before mounting it on silk brocade. The Tibetan painter tried his best, in broken Engish, to explain to us the importance and meaning of Kalachakra mandala. He did a good job as well, so here you go, there are 722 deities residing in the Kalachakra Mandala, symbolizing various manifestations of consciousness and reality. The Dalai Lama has explained that the Kalachakra deities represented in the Mandala create a favorable atmosphere that can reduce tension and violence in the world.

The Kalachakra deity resides in the center of the Mandala in his palace consisting of four Mandalas, one within the other: the Mandalas of body, speech, and mind, and in the very center, wisdom and great bliss. The colors used in the making of the mandala represent the elements, like black is associated with the element of air and wind, red is for fire, yellow symbolises earth, and white, represents the element of water.

Understanding each symbol in the mandala would be like reading the Kalachakra texts. But whatever he explained was good enough to convey its significance in Buddhism, and the benefits of this intricate work for the body and mind. One of the painter was working on the metal sculpture of Buddha. This was a huge canvas, still under completion, and often seen in monasteries. Another enlightening session at Norbulingka, if you visit Dharamsala make it a point to drop by here and spend a whole day absorbing various aspects of the Tibetan culture. Norbulingka also has a cafe and guest house in its premises and its open from Monday to Saturday – 9 am to 5:30 pm.

The plan was to head to Gyuto Monastery, the home of the Karmappa. Following which the taxi would drop us to a village from where the trek to Kareri begins, and from the village another 13 kms uphill was the eluded lake. More about that in the next post.

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