> Ladakh

The magical realm of Ladakh lays far away, isolated in the Indian Himalayas. It’s a mind-blowing combination of high plateau desert (above 3000m), beautiful snow-capped huge mountains (up to 7000m / 23,000ft), roaring rivers, green fields hidden in valleys and peaceful medieval villages.
Life here is deeply immersed in Tibetan Buddhism, with colorful Tibetan prayer flags and crimson robed monks seen everywhere, and Gompas (monasteries) hanging from sheer cliffs…

Shanti Stupa above Leh
Shanti Stupa

Early morning prayer in Thiksey gompa (Buddhist Monastery)
Thiksey Gompa monks

Gompa gate knob
Gompa gate knob

Monks blowing the trumpet to a traditional Mask Dance (Chaam) at Thiksey gompa
Mask Dance Trumpets

Buddhist Mural restoration at Hemis gompa
Hemis mural restoration

Tibetan scriptures, Hemis
Tibetan scriptures at Hemis

Tibetan religious ceremonial objects
Tibetan ceremonial objects

Harvest season…
Harvest season

Ladakh’s exceptional weather – you can stand in one place and get your head sunburned and feet frost-bitten at the same time…
Ladakh crazy sky

Alchi village women stoning ten thousand Apricot seeds (looks like almonds)
Alchi Apricot seeds

Not so “politically correct” road sign on the way to Nubra valley
Nubra road sign

Confluence of Zanskar and Indus rivers, before Nimmu village
Zanskar Indus confluence

The following images were taken during a trek from Lamayuru to Chiling. It’s an awesome 5-6 day trek, with superb scenary, crossing some high mountain passes between tranquile villages. You can either camp-out or stay overnight in local homes which is a great way to taste the local Ladakhi life.

Lamayuru gompa hangs on a cliff above the village
Lamayuru gompa

Traditional Ladakhi kitchen at Hinju village
Hinju village kitchen

A Buddhist Lama (guru) holding an annual religious ceremony in a family house. It’s a few hours one-man-show, involving chanting of blessings and playing the drum and cymbals. The preparations took half day and involved the entire family – making dough icons and constructing other ritualistic accessories
Lama private ceremony

Breathless climb over Konze-La pass (4,950m)
Konze-La pass climb

Views of the Stoc and Zanskar ranges from Konze La.
A Ladakhi family returns from visiting the neighboring village..
Konze-La views

Views from Pagal-La pass over Sumdo Chinmu village
Pagal-La Sumdo Chinmu

Dazzling mountain colors, looking downhill from Dung Dung La pass towards Chiling
Dung Dung La towards Chiling

Traditional threshing at Chilling village – The oxen walk on the straw in circles over and over again, separating the grain from the chaff
Chiling Threshing

“Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the grain” (Deuteronomy 25:4)
Threshing Ox

Winnowing follows threshing. The mixed wheat is thrown in the air – the lighter chaff is blown by the wind, while the grain falls in a nice pile
Winnowing wheat

Keep the city of Leh clean! (traditional costume…)
Keep Leh clean

Leh panoramic views from Shanti Stupa
Leh panorama

Although it’s a desert, the open nature of Ladak abounds with mesmerizing colors, flowers and wildlife…
Ladakh nature collage

© all rights reserved to Amit Rosner 2007

9 Responses to “> Ladakh”

  1. yaron Says:

    great pics!
    it’s wonderful to see all these pictures of places where i travelled and feel them again.

  2. Yonatan Says:

    WOW
    very beautiful and precise work of photography

  3. Miriam Rosenzweig Says:

    The monks look a lot like Tibetan monks and the stupa loos like those in Tibet. The photos are wonderful. You’ll probably find this hard to believe, but we have a stupa righ here in Bloomington. The Dalai Lama’s brother lives here. He is retired from the Faculty at Indiana University, and the Dalai Lama comes quite often to visit him and the people of Bloomington. He will be here this weekend.
    I’ll forward the pictures to Judy. Thanks so much. Many good wishes for the rest of your livesL, Miriam

  4. Barak Says:

    awsome, it´s nice to know you can always leave your work and get an alternative one as a photographer…

  5. tamar Says:

    when you push the camera button and let us feel the real moment
    in a skill which imagination and personality are there it is realy impressive
    thank you for sharing that moment with us

  6. Maya Elhalal Says:

    So great to see the site live and updated with such beautiful images!

  7. Satish Kaushik Says:

    I am refresh to see the beautiful pictures again. I was in leh in September . I went their by road and was wonderful experience. One should go atlest once in their life to discover the beautiful Himalayan Mountain Range.

  8. Amitabh Telang Says:

    Hi Amit,

    Beautiful pics with different unique quotes….!

    Bravo…keep it up..!

  9. Jim Says:

    Indeed moonface Maya, indeed.

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