A Former Buddhist Kingdom Reckons With Modernization

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The road to Turtuk, near the Pakistani border. PHOTO: QUENTIN DE BRIEY FOR WSJ. MAGAZINE

By Tom Downey, Photography by Quentin de Briey
Jan. 25, 2017 10:34 a.m. ET

IN THE VILLAGE OF THIKSEY, a group of women stands outside the gates of an ancient whitewashed monastery. Removing sunglasses and donning large, looped earrings, gold-embroidered jackets and hoods adorned with Tibetan turquoise, they prepare for the arrival of a special guest to this part of Ladakh: the Dalai Lama. The roughly 500-year-old monastery has been given a face-lift for the occasion—a fresh coat of paint and a new outdoor meeting space, with thousands of colorful prayer flags fluttering overhead. My guide, Nawang Phunchok, who grew up in this village, helps the women fasten fur-lined capes and adjust intricate metalwork necklaces. When everyone is fully dressed, he snaps cellphone photos to preserve the moment for Facebook and Twitter.

His Holiness’s visit to Ladakh, in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, in the northeast corner of India near the borders of Pakistan and China, stems from the fact that nearly half of Ladakh’s population now practices Tibetan Buddhism. (The religion arrived roughly 2,000 years ago, hundreds of years before it flourished in what is now called Tibet.) The sect led by the 81-year-old Dalai Lama—the Gelugpa, or Yellow Hat sect—is one of the most popular forms of Buddhism in Ladakh. This spiritual connection to Tibet is echoed in the local architecture, notably in Thiksey’s monastery, which is modeled on the Potala Palace in Lhasa.

Unlike Tibet, however, where Buddhism has been under siege from China for decades, Ladakh allows the religion to thrive in the monasteries that dot this high mountain plateau and attract children as young as 6 or 7 to train as monks. Tibet is occupied by the Chinese government, which forced the Dalai Lama into exile in 1959 and seeks to limit his influence. Ladakh enjoys almost total religious freedom and is one of a handful of places on earth where Tibetan Buddhism is alive and unfettered.

On my first morning in Ladakh, I awake in a white tent outfitted with a private patio that commands a glorious view across an empty valley. In the misty dawn, the towering monastery rises like a medieval mirage. On my way to morning prayers, I walk through the grounds of my hotel, TUTC (The Ultimate Travelling Camp), which offers safari-style accommodations in two Ladakh locations: here in Thiksey, just outside the city of Leh, and in Nubra, a remote mountain valley a day’s drive north across one of the world’s highest passes.



ON TOP OF THE WORLD | Table and chairs outside a teahouse near the Khardung La road pass (altitude: 17,582 feet). PHOTO: QUENTIN DE BRIEY FOR WSJ. MAGAZINE

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-former-buddhist-kingdom-where-no-one-takes-the-short-route-to-happiness-1485358441