Religion

Religion is very much a day-to-day part of the Indian Himalaya and it’s evident all around - from the tangled rows of prayer flags that flutter at every pass top to the magnificent monasteries that cling to the mountainsides. Squeezed between Tibet and Pakistan, the region is strongly influenced by Buddhism and Islam, though it’s the former that feels by far the most prevalent in the areas in which we travel – with the Hindu presence permeating through Kinnaur, and within the army presence.

Unlike in Tibet, the influence of which is strongly felt, the day to day practise of Tibetan Buddhism is alive and strong. Banks of prayer wheels dot many a wall - sometimes crafted from old paint pots, sometimes incredibly elaborate. Rows of chortens line the entry to many a village - some crumbing into the landscape, some brand new. Young trainee monks in burgundy robes run riot between classes and elderly folk thumb prayer beads as they gossip.

But aside from the wonderful Jama Masjid mosque in Leh, architecturally it’s the towering monasteries - generally balanced atop craggy peaks and reached by a dozen looping switchbacks - that stand out most. Dating back as much as a millennia, these incredible structures are the homes of dozens of monks and packed with ornate murals, butter lamps and golden buddhas, linked by a complex network of winding corridors, dwarf-high doorways and rickety ladders. Within their prayer rooms, often illuminated by shafts of sunlight piercing rafters or broken windows, there seems little change to mark the passing of the last few hundreds of years. Flanked by walls stained with centuries of burning oil and cubby holes lined with neatly rolled ancient scrolls, it’s only the Kit Kat offerings, solar panels and baseball caps favoured by the kids (burgundy, or course) that give the game away.

We’ll be adding in a rundown of some of the things you’re likely to see - such as Mane walls, prayer wheels and chortens - and what they mean.

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