LAMAYURU
Lamayuru
gompa, with its medieval village seemingly growing out of the rocky
hillside, below it lies 15 km east of the Fatu La on the Srinagar-Leh
Highway.
Lamayuru belongs to the red-hat sect of Buddhism. In the
past, the gompa housed up to 400 lamas, but presently only 30 to 50 lamas
live here, although about 150 lamas belong to the gompa. The other lamas
stay and teach at Lamayuru’s daughter gompas located in outlying
villages.
Twice a year, all the lamas gather for prayers,
accompanied by three days of masked dancing. These gatherings occur in the
second and fifth months of the Tibetan calendar (corresponding usually to
March and July).
Ancient legends say that at the time of
Sakyamuni (the Historical Buddha, Lamayuru's valley was a clear lake where
nags (holy serpents) lived. The Bodhisattva Madhyantaka foretold that the
lake would be emptied and a monastery built there. The legend continues by
saying Naropa, an 11th century Indian Buddhist scholar, came to Lamayuru and
spent many years meditating in a cave, which can still be seen in the
Dukhang. Naropa then caused a split in the surrounding hillside and the lake
emptied through this opening. After the lake emptied, Naropa found a dead
lion covered by the waters of the lake. On this spot, Naropa built the first
temple, the Singhe Ghang (Lion Mound).
Other historical accounts
relate that in the 10th century the King of Ladakh ordered the building of
Lamayuru and placed it under the supervision of Rinchen Zangbo. The original
gompa was composed of five buildings although only the central one still
stands. The 16th century, Ladakh's King Jamyang Namgyal was cured of leprosy
by a lama from Tibet. In gratitude, the King gave the gompa to this lama and
also bestowed other privileges - no taxes were collected and the area
surrounding the gompa was declared a sanctuary where none could be arrested.
For this reason, Ladakh's still refer to Lamayuru as Tharpa Ling, the "Place
of Freedom".
Walk to the large building next to a tall
prayer flag pole. Go in the doorway, up a flight of steps to the main
courtyard. The Dukhang is on the right side of the courtyard. The entrance
verandah has been recently painted with a colourful depiction of the
Guardians of the Four Directions. The mural on the left wall depicts the
proper way for a lama to live. The Dukhang was redecorated in 1970 with new
column paintings.
In the wall on the right side of the Dukhang is
a small cave known as Naropa's cave, where he is supposed to have meditated
for several years. This cave contains a statue of Naropa as well as statues
of Marpa (Naropa's student who became a translator of religious texts and
famous poet) and Mila Ras-pa (Marpa's student and a spiritual head of the
red-hat sect of Buddhism, famous for his asceticism).
The right
side of the Dukhang has three complete sets of the Kandshur the 108 volumes
of Buddha's teachings) in lovely glass-fronted bookcases. These cases were
made in 1977 and have elaborate painted decorations above and below the
shelves holding the books. The statue near the middle of the right side wall
is Sakyamuni although not with his usual blue hair.
Opposite the
Dukhang's entrance, on the left side are five statues of various red-hat
lamas. In front of these are statues of Amitabha (the Boundless Light
Buddha), Padme Sambhava (an 8th century Indian Buddhist translator of
Buddhist texts into Tibetan) and Sakyamuni (the Historical Buddha). In the
center is a throne seat reserved for Lamayuru's head lama, who is also the
head lama of Phyang gompa (both Lamayuru and Phyang belong to the same
sub-sect of the red-hat sect of Buddhism). To the right of the head lama's
seat is a chorten of no particular significance and statues of Padme
Sambhava and Tungdup Tshogs-gyal, a previous head lama of Lamayuru. In the
background are thankas depicting Buddha's incarnations.
Behind
the main Dukhang is a Gonkhang, a temple devoted to guardian divinities. In
the temple's new glass-fronted cases are various images. Starting from the
left there is a case of lovely sculptures made of butter mixed with barley
flour for Lamayuru's festivals; Mahakala the fiercest guardian divinity,
Apshi, a guardian of the gompa; Radha Shree, a founder of the religious sect
to which Lamayuru belongs; three guardian divinities and another Apshi
riding a horse. In front of the cases is Tara, reflecting her twenty-one
manifestations (Tara is the consort of Avalokitesvara and known as the
Saviouress).
After leaving the main Dukhang, take the steps on
the left up one flight. Go to the right and immediately on the left is
another Gonkhang devoted to the guardian divinities depicted on the temple's
side walls. During the gompa's festival (usually in March), the masked
dancers impersonate the guardians depicted in this temple.
There
are three chortens in the front, the larger central one being decorated with
turquoise and coral. The chorten on the right contains the relics of a
previous head lama. This temple has statues of various lamas, as well as
murals of the lamas on the wall behind the statues.
Separate from
the large building containing the Dukhang is an old, small temple dedicated
to Avalokitesvara. In the alcove opposite the entrance is a very old eight
foot high image of Avalokitesvara with 1,000 arms and eyes in each hand
(symbolizing his enormous strength) and eleven heads (nine Bodhisattva
heads, one head angry at the suffering in the world and a Buddha head on
top), Avalokitesvara's name means "Lord of All He Surveys" and he
is believed to be reincarnated in the Dalai Lama. In the alcove with this
image is a collection of smaller images of Avalokitesvara, Padme Sambhava in
the center front and smaller of the statues of 8 Bodhisattvas. On the wall
to the right of the alcove is a recent but very well painted Avalokitesvara,
again with 1,000 arms and eleven heads. On the right side wall is a mural of
all the various divinities a Buddhist will see after death. The left side
wall and the entrance wall depict Buddha's incarnations.
Go
through a maze of buildings to Singhe Ghang temple, which may be original to
the time of the monastery's founding as its wall murals and images are
similar to those found at Alchi and dated to the 10th century. The main
image is a large Vairocana (the Teaching Buddha) seated on a lion throne
with a garuda (mythical bird) and sea monsters surrounding his head.
Stucco images of the Buddhas of the Four Directions are on the back wall. The
left side wall has a mural of an 11-headed Avalokitesvara and also a mandala
painting of Vairocana. The right side wall murals have been almost totally obliterated
by water damage. The wooden pillars and beams are all from the Zanskar Valley.
Nandadevi 
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