The cheerful nature of people of Ladakh is infectious and easily rubs on to people visiting the region. It is perhaps one of the important factors besides magnificent landscapes and expansive lakes that attracts visitors from across the world to Ladakh. Here are some images of people of Ladakh.
A lady at looks on as the annual Gustor Festival is in progress at Korzok Village on the banks of Tso Moriri Lake. The monastery festival is an opportunity for nomadic changspa people to get together and meet. Women adorn their turquoise jewellery and come dressed at their traditional best. People of all ages gather at the monastery, greet their friend and relative and celebrate the two-day festival that has a mix of tradition and revelry.
A changspa woman with her turquoise-embedded headgear at the annual Korzok Gustor Festival.
A changspa woman with her turqoise embedded jewellery at the annual Korzok Gustor Festival.
A changspa woman at Korzok Gustor Festival
Changspa women at Korzok Gustor Festival
A boy peeks through the window of the prayer hall at Korzok Monastery to look at the monks getting prepared for the festivals in the room, while the mountains and Tso Moriri Lake reflect in the window.
Smiling children watching dancing monks at Korzok Gustor Festival
The remote Zasnkar Region gets cut off from rest of the world in the winter months, when the roads are buried in deep snow and the temperature dips 20 degrees below zero. But life must go on – the sheep have to fed, the stove must keep burning and the children must go to school. Children are going to modern schools in Zanskar only in the last few decades.
In winters, people of Zanskar rarely see new faces, except for a few adventurers who make the long walk on the frozen Zanskar River and stay for a few days in the villages before heading back. Such visitors incite the curiosity of the villagers who are always happy to begin a conversation and perhaps invite them over for a cup of tea.
This woman at Zangla Village takes a moment to talk to us at the end of day that is usually filled with lot of work even in the frigid winter months.
A girl pauses to speak to her mother before heading out to the school, where she will be spending her first half of the day.
A young man has a short conversation with us before leading his sheep into a covered stable in the evening.
A lady is smiles at us looking through the window as we stop by to talk with her young lad taking care of his sheep nearby.
A shy boy at the house where we were staying in Zangla Village poses for the camera.
A girl smiles brightly as she starts a conversation and asks me to take her picture.
Children are happy to see new faces at their village on a cold winter evening. This little girl sang loudly to draw our attention, as her shy brother looks on hiding behind a stack of wood and hay.
A curious young lad at Zangla Village, Zanskar.
Traditionally, people gave up their ownership of land and home to their children after crossing certain age, built a khangbu—small house of their own—and retired to a life of simple living. I have never really seen a Khangbu anywhere in Ladakh. Perhaps this is a fading tradition, as I have seen houses where elders still share the family house.
In Zanskar’s Zangla Village, we saw this bunch of old men and women sunning in the evening. Some were busy knitting while everyone made some casual conversation, sometimes between themselves and sometimes with us.
An elderly woman wearing sheepskin over traditional goncha smiles at us, while a young girl wearing a woolen sweater stands next to her.
These children, who were playing quietly just outside their village at Lamayuru, pause briefly to look at the visitors.
It is perhaps important to include tourists in the population of Ladakh, especially in the short summers when their numbers swell and perhaps exceeds the residents by manifolds. Leh, once a trading center and a town where several trading paths intersected and goods exchanged, now sees an influx of large number of visitors in the summer months when the weather is at its best. A good percentage of Ladakh’s population now depends on tourism income. This is also a time when there is a temporary immigration of a workforce that caters to tourists, who go back in the winter months when there are hardly any outsiders in the town.
One of the great characteristics of Ladakhis is their abilities and physical strength to cope up with harsh weather and subject themselves to hard work. On a difficult expedition of walking on the frozen Zanskar River, Zanskari porters play the role of heroes who go to great extent to keep their visitors comfortable. They carry the luggages, cook and sometimes even carry trekkers on their shoulders when there is a need to step into the frigid waters. After a long day’s walk of pulling the load on their sledges, a porter still has the time for a big smile, and energy to collect a big load of wood by scouring the mountains.
Porters warm up in a cave and cook their food as they get ready for a cold night with temperature reaching 20 degrees below zero in Zanskar.
A porter who accompanied our group on the long expedition to Zanskar from Leh, walking on the frozen Zanskar River.
Sheep and Pashmeena Goats are an important part of Ladakh’s rural economy. While Barley fields take care of feeding the villages, Pashmeena Wool brings the much needed cash to buy everything else needed for the household. A shepherd is herding the goats back home after a day of taking them to graze in the wilderness of Nubra Valley.
Also read: my essays on the people of Ladakh.
I spent a week in Kerala last month, looking out for beautiful places to photograph and to plan photography tours for Darter and for a few private groups. We had a great week of travelling as we visited cultural hubs of Kerala, saw and photographed some rare endemic birds, woke up to some amazing landscapes that became a theater to play of light and clouds, and floated over the beautiful backwaters of Alleppey. ‘Cloud Farm’ in Munnar was one such place we visited during the trip. We reached there in near darkness on a damp evening when unseasonal showers seemed to play spoilsport to our visit. We suffered a few leech bites along the way, but escaped from nine out of ten leeches that caught us, thanks to leech-socks provided by our guide.
The next morning, weather had cleared up around the campsite and we woke up to see a layer of clouds separating the mountains from the valley below. The colours of early morning sun penetrated as a strip of gentle red somewhere near the horizon. As the day progressed and the clouds cleared up, the greenery around the campsite became a hub of activity as birds started moving up and down in their lookout for breakfast. Nilgiri flycatchers, Kerala Laughingthrushes, pacific swallows and a variety of birds flew and perched next to plants and bushes very close to the campsite. Later, we made a short hike to the highest point in the region that offered a 360-degree view of the hills and plains around us.
In the view faraway were the plains of Tamil Nadu, the world’s highest tea garden at Kolukkumalai hills and the undulating landscapes of Top Slip. We stood on a small wind-swept, grassy plateau and watched the world around us until the sun gained strength and reminded us of the day ahead.
Here are some images from the visit to ‘Cloud Farm’
Hills and clouds and the hour of sunrise
A Kerala Laughingthrush
Houses on the slopes
Our guide Sibi showing the way
A Nilgiri Flycatcher
View of Kolukkumalai Tea Estate in the opposing hills, claimed to be the world’s highest organic tea garden.
Rhododendrons that bloom in high altitudes
Clouds moving up the hills
The morning spectacle
‘Cloud Farm’ is a camp site with great views, located on the Munnar-Vattavada road, nearly an hour’s drive from the town and further an hour’s walk. The camp site is managed by Nature Unseen, who organize visits and night’s stay at location. Sibi, our guide and the person who runs nature unseen, is well informed on Munnar’s history, flora and fauna. He had lots to tell us when we were spending the night at the camp.
Our stay at Munnar Town was a courtesy of Green Spaces, a small guesthouse about 10km from the town. The guesthouse has spacious and comfortable rooms and most importantly, in a place that is faraway from the town in a quiet location. See more about Green Spaces on their website.
Here is a compilation of images of heritage sites in Hampi, made during my two visits to the place this year. In these visits, I attempted to go beyond merely documenting the temples, but tried looking for new angles and perspectives to capture them. I must admit that the time I spent at each monument is far less than I would have liked to, to be able to do justice to their beauty. I believe that good pictures are made by continuous and patient observation, taking time to immerse oneself in the surroundings. There will be many more visits to Hampi in the coming years, where I hope to spend time finding more perspectives and unseen beauty of these monuments.
Also see my images of birds of Hampi.
Virupaksha Templs’s tower is the tallest and among the most prominent structures in Hampi. While the deities in all other temples in Hampi were desecrated at some point in time, Virupaksha Temple remained intact. This is the only places among the old temple where the lord is still worshiped. Also read the debate on why Virupaksha Temple was not desecrated, on Anu’s blog.
The insides of Virupaksha Temple.
More views of Virupaksha Temple, taken from nearby Hemakuta Hill.
And here is how Hemakuta Hill looks from the courtyard of Virupaksha Temple. People arrive at the Hemakuta Hill in the evening hours to see the beautiful vistas of a boulder-strewn landscape and to watch the sunset. This picture was taken about thirty minutes before the hour of sunset.
Here is a mendicant on one of the mantapas on Hemakuta Hill.
A long avenue, called Hampi Bazaar, located in front of Virupaksha Temple is said to be the place that symbolized the past riches of Hampi. This is where gold and diamonds were sold by the street side in the heydays of Vijayanagar Kingdom. Even today, a long shelter with hundreds of pillars has remained on both sides of the avenue, which once served as shops selling the riches. To the other end of the avenue is Matanga Parvata, said to be the highest point in Hampi. This mantapa is at the base of Matanga Parvata about a kilometer away from Virupaksha Temple at the other end of the avenue.
To the other side of Matanga Hill Achutaraya Temple, seen in the picture below.
Similar to the bazaar in front of Virupaksha Temple, Achutaraya Temple also boasts of a wide and long avenue which once had shops lined on both sides. This Kalyani is at the other end of Achutaraya Bazaar.
River Tungabhadra flows through Hampi, flowing close to Virupaksha Temple and the kalyani in front of Achutaraya Temple. Further, about a kilometer downstream on the bank of the river is Vijaya Vithala Temple, one of the major monuments of Hampi. It is most known for its musical pillars and a stone chariot in the temple courtyard. My personal favourite is this frangipani tree that adds a great charm to the temple premises. Thankfully, it was flowering during my last visit in February.
Lotus Mahal is another well-known monument in Hampi, located along with a series of sites that one can visit along with this. During my visit to the Mahal in January, we reached here just before sunset to catch the last golden rays of sun falling on the monument.
A closer look at Lotus Mahal.
Near Lotus Mahal is a large enclosure where the royal family lived. The palace and other buildings in the enclosure do not exist any more. A large elevated platform from which the king addressed his subjects, and a series of tanks and aqueducts form the highlight of the royal enclosures. Here is a small section of a step well in the royal enclosure.
Not far from royal enclosure is the queen’s bath – a modest building with a tank in the center of it. Here is an image of the passage around the tank.
Prints of the image available. Request for prints