TOP OF INDIA : MONASTERIES OF LADAKH
- Nishita Chopra
- Oct 29, 2020
- 6 min read
After studying up the basics of local architecture of each state in India, lets take a detailed look and understand why the architecture in India varies so highly.
Each state being so vast and varied in it's culture and history, comes with a story which is depicted in ways of its clothes, languages, stories and the architecture.
In the coming few weeks, we will be taking up the local architecture of each state and try to understand why and how has the history and location of that particular place helped shape its architecture.
The architecture or design tied by the cultural and social traditions is known as vernacular architecture. It responds to the environmental conditions around us. The need for understanding local architecture is the need of the hour because of the drastic environmental conditions we live in. It has become very important to understand the use of renewable resources and energy efficient uses.
Let's go from the top and come down with focus on one state every week and learn what is special about the architecture of that state.
This week we study the Monasteries and the architecture of Leh-Ladakh.
Leh is located at 3500m above sea level, almost the height of Mt. Fuji. Due to this height it is easy to assume why the Buddhist culture and traditions have retained so well in Ladakh all this while. It has just very easily stayed protected from the invasions of other religious culture.
Buddhism, was first propagated in Kashmir by King Ashoka in the 3rd Century BC with a lot of temple constructions in wood or brick, though none now remain. Two Chinese monks, Faxian (5th century) and Xuanzang (7th century), visited Kashmir and recorded the prosperity of Buddhism. There are historical records of the influence in Ladakh from the 10th Century.
In spite of the strong influence from Kashmir in the sphere of art, full-blown prosperity of Buddhism in Ladakh came late, after the refuge of many high priests to this place, avoiding the civil war in the 9th century in Tibet. Buddhism in Ladakh is thus, Tibetan Buddhism also known as Lamaism. Rinchen Zangpo, who established Buddhism in Ladakh, in India in the 10th century then devoted himself to translating sacred scriptures into Tibetan and to have constructed 108 temples in Ladakh.
Tibetan Buddhism consists of four major sects: Nyignma, Kagyu, Sakya, and Gelug. Architecturally there is no difference among the sects and they co exist peacefully. The monasteries of Ladakh are also.
THE GOMAPS IN LADAKH
When you visit a gompa, you see a monastic community of males, which looks like a village with a lot of inhabitants. Most gompas are located on hillside away from the residential areas or towns. They have facilities that unite and segregate the religious services, meditating areas and residential quarters. The first monasteries built were wooden, although now they are a mix of stone and sun dried brick on the outer walls and wooden construction for the inner walls. This reason also arises because of lack of timber availability and the ignorance of arch and dome technique to build by brick and stone.
Although the window and door frames for houses are simple, those for the monasteries are delicately carved. A gompa with piled stone outer walls has no arched openings; all openings are rectangular with timber or stone lintels. Walls are finished with mud plaster. Clay-rich earth is preferred to reduce cracks and it is plastered by hand without a trowel. Although, the reason for black paint around windows is not known, it is a common custom in Tibet, giving a unique feature to Ladakhi architecture.
Roofs are flat because of very little rain and given finishing touches with a thick layer of earth on a wooden floor. The 100 mm of annual precipitation in Ladakh indicates snow during winter. As a roof cannot endure the weight of snow, inhabitants must remove it every day and keep the roof clear as a space for working and sunlight.
Another reason for the flat roof is the lack of materials such as boards, slates, and tiles to cover sloping roofs. A flat roof can be hardened with earth, which also functions as thermal insulation in winter.
MAIN GOMPAS OF LADAKH
While coming from Srinagar towards Leh, the first gompa one sees is at Kargil, called, Lamayuru Gompa. It was founded in the 10th Century.
The Singesgang (Lion Hall) in this gompa is believed to have been built by the Indian Tantric yogi (ascetic), Naropa. It shows simple wooden structure from the 11th century and a remnant of Ionic decoration on the capitals of wooden columns.
The Rizong Gompa is one of the most isolated gompas inhabiting 40 monks who are allowed to own only books in their possession. There are three main shrines in the gompa to explore carrying a world of history and reveals of the 19th century time when this gompa was built.
The Alchi Monastry is one of the oldest monasteries of the place holding monuments inside with a unique story. The key parts of the monastery are the assembly hall or Dukhang, Manjushri- the temple and chortens. They have elaborate artworks with wood carvings and huge ancient statues of Buddha. It reflects classical architecture of Ancient India.
The Likir Gompa, after Alchi, was estabilished in the 12th century. Its large-scale appearance rising on a hill looks like a stronghold. When entering through the gateway, one finds a nice courtyard surrounded with walkways, facing the colorfully painted Dukhang (religious service hall).
Closer to Leh is the Spituk Gompa from the 11th century and the Phiyan Gompa from the 16th century. Both are famous in town for the masked dances in their courtyards.
The Phiyan Gompa is quite large with a unique spatial composition, in which one goes up stairs between buildings from the forecourt to the main courtyard, in front of which are more stairs leading to the Dukhang. The inside walls of halls and shrines are painted everywhere in the Chinese style.
In the outskirts of Leh, there is the Sankar Gompa. The monks’ living quarters facing the Dukhan across the courtyard gives a vibe of fascinating contemporary condominium.
The Thikse Gompa, built in the 15th century gives an appearance of an Italian hillside town. A large complex including the Dukhang stands on the hilltop, from which monks’ chambers, shrines, and Chortens (stupas) are designed along the slope, completely integrated into the hill. The wooden walkways surrounding the courtyard on the hilltop are lavishly painted with murals.
The Thikse and Shey Gompas are famously known for their large golden Buddha statues. The statues are so large that they protrude through the ceiling of the first floor, and their faces can only be seen from the second. This indicates that most probably could not obtain a timber thick enough to cover spaces.
The Hemis Gompa is the most prosperous and the largest gompa since the 17th century. It was made by the high priest, Tagstang Raspa, who was invited by King Senge Namgyal, who had constructed the Leh Palace. It holds two prayer halls, the Dukhang and Tsokhang, facing the courtyard, are so large that a number of columns stand close together inside. The central part of the main hall stretches up through the roof, and the hall gets light from that part. Here in the Hemis Gompa, the upper part, four columns stand as high as two stories, over which, furthermore, stands a lighting tower. The wooden structure of the ceiling and roofs are visible as there is no ceiling boards put up.
Close to Hemis, one reaches two gompas, Chemre and Taktak Gompas. The former is located on a hilltop and its group composition of shrines and monks’ chambers on a slope is magnificent.
With the religion being so untouched and uninvaded by the other cultures, there is still so much of it for one to explore to understand how it influences its art and architecture. Going through the above, we have learnt that its peaceful culture has highly influenced the way each gompa community is functioned. The architecture has not only been molded by its cultures and traditions but also by the climate of the region. The use of wood and bricks and flat roofs serve a purpose in the cold winters and retain heat inside the buildings where one tends to stay for much longer time considering its harsh weather conditions.
The Gompas serve a lifestyle to its people by giving it the exact community structure and functionality the religion and its disciples are in search of. They offer religious practicing area to residential quarters to meditating zones all within and the way the gompas are designed makes one truly believe that one needs not more than the clothes on their back to lead a lifestyle of quite and satisfaction.
They serve the kind of positivity and peace that the monks practice and the gompas designed are careful to the architecture psychology of the area making it known through its streets within and the colors of the buildings that the area is juts there to give that; peace of mind and soul.
It all seems apt for a place that is so far and away from the daily hustle bustle of the cities as one goes down the map.
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Very interesting topic and a lot of information put together
With minimum resources people of Leh and Ladakh has built such wonderful structures, apt for the terrain and climatic conditions. Itvis important to bring to light the native architecture and what we can learn from those buildings and apply on contemporary architecture. Great read. Congratulations!