ROOF OF THE WORLD

Benoy K Behl

On the Roof of the World, Kashmiri artists created some of the most beautiful art of the world.  The trans-Himalayan lands of Spiti, Kinnaur and Ladakh are a magical place. The tallest mountains of the world stand guard here. This high-altitude cold desert has a startling variety of landscapes which vary in height from 10,000 feet to over 20,000 feet above sea level. Thoughts of the eternal are never beyond the vision of man here.

King Yeshe Od came to the throne of Guge, in the 10^th century, at a time when Buddhism had considerably declined in the trans-Himalayas. What troubled him most was that even the little practice of the religion which continued was impure and coloured by local magical rites.

In 975 CE, Yeshe Od sent Rinchen Zangpo to Kashmir.  This arduous journey, to a land which was a centre of Buddhism, was to bring back scriptures with the original and pure knowledge of the faith. The mission was also to bring back artists to build, paint and sculpt new temples in Guge.

It is believed by the people of the trans-Himalayan lands that Rinchen Zangpo made 108 monasteries and temples.

He had brought 32 artists to Guge from the Valley of Kashmir. They were to create the foundations of a lasting tradition of Buddhist art in the trans-Himalayas. The painters and sculptors from Kashmir brought with them a highly sophisticated form of art, which was deeply rooted in the classic Sanskrit texts of India.

In the 10^th century, Abhinavagupta had taken the Indian philosophy of aesthetics to rare heights of development. This was in a climate deeply imbued with the thoughts of Kashmir Shaivism, which saw the beauty of the world around as a reflection of the glory of the divine. The experience of beauty, the ecstasy of the aesthetic experience was considered to be akin to the final bliss of salvation itself.

The high mountain passes which connect Spiti to the rest of the world remain snow bound for half the year. This makes Spiti one of the most isolated regions of the world.

The experience of joy lies at the heart of the Buddhism which came to Ladakh during the Second Diffusion. The concept of Yoga stresses the oneness of everything in creation. This art, permeated with a sublime sense of grace brings the worshipper closer to that ecstatic realisation.

In the vast and bleak desert lands of the trans-Himalayas, the temples of the Second Diffusion of Buddhism are like an oasis of colour. The architecture, the sculpture and the paintings are all a part of a unified, sacred plan. Their purpose is to move us and to transport us, far from the cares and confusions of the material world. To the depth of the peace to be found within.

Under the Glimpses of Culture series, India Habitat Centre presents an online talk and
screening of the film ‘The Roof of the World’ ((Early Monasteries of the trans-Himalayas)
produced by Benoy K Behl for Doordarshan on March 15, 6pm. Click here to join