Art Treasures of Ladakh

A remote borderland region in far northern India, Ladakh remains an unspoiled enclave of Tibetan Buddhism. The high ramparts of the Greater Himalaya and Karakorum ranges have shielded its cultural treasures from marauding Mongol hordes; its location within India has spared it the destruction of the Cultural Revolution in Tibet. Ladakh's Indus River Valley monasteries contain a wealth of brightly-painted murals; gilded, gem-studded statues of Buddha; religious icons; carvings and scrolls. For centuries, Silk Road caravans and faithful pilgrims passed through this mountain crossroads between India, Tibet and Chinese Turkestan, endowing Ladakh with a convergence of artistic traditions. Clinging to impossibly steep and barren cliffs, the gompas remain alive with the devotions of monks young and old. Here it is possible to receive a lama's blessing, hear the throaty wail of a horn echoing off mountain walls, and witness a lifestyle passed down intact through the ages.