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Location:
70-km From Leh, Ladakh Region, J&K
Significance: The Du-Khang, The Sumtsek
Driving past on the nearby Srinagar Leh highway you;d never
guess that the culuster of low pagoda roofed cubes 3 km across the Indus
from Saspol, dwarfed by a spectacular sweep of wine coloured scree, is one
of the most significant historical sites in Asia, Yet the Chos Khor or
religious enclave at Alchi 70 km west of Leh harbours an extraordinary
wealth of ancient wall paintings and wood sculputre miraculously preserved
for over nine centures insides five tiny mud walled temples, The site's
earliest murals are regarded as the finest surviving examples of a style
that flourished in Kashmir during the "second Spreading" Barely a handful of
the monasteries founded during this era escaped the Muslim depredations of
the fourteenth century.
Alchi is the most impressive of
them all the least remote and the only one you don't need a special
permit to visit nestled beside a bend in the milky blue Rive Indus amid some
dramatic scenery
The Du-Khang
 An inscription records that Alchi's oldest structure, the Du-Khang, was
erected late in the 11th century. Its centrepiece is a image of Vairocana,
the Buddha Resplendent flanked by the four main Buddha manifestations that
appear all over Alchi's temple walls always presented in their associated
colours.
Once one's eyes adjust to the gloom inside, check out the niche in the rear
wall where Vairocana, the "Buddha Resplendent", is flanked by the four main
Buddha manifestations that appear all over Alchi's temple walls, always
presented in their associated colours: Akshobya ("Unshakable"; Blue),
Ratnasambhava (""Jewel Born"; Yellow), Amitabha ("Boundless Radiance"; Red)
and Amoghasiddhi ("Unfailing Success"; Green). The other walls are decorated
with six elaborate Mandalas, interspersed with intricate friezes.
The Sumtsek
Standing to the left of the Du-khang, the Sumtsek is Alchi's most celebrated
temple, and the highest achievement of early medieval Indian Buddhist art.
Its woodcarvings and paintings, dominated by rich reds and blues, are almost
as fresh and vibrant today as they were 900 years ago, when the squat triple
storeyed structure was built. The resident lama leads visitors under a
delicate wooden façade to the interior of the shrine, shrouded in a womb
like darkness broken only by flickering butter lamps. Scan the walls with a
flashlight and you'll see why scholars have filled volumes on this chamber
alone. Surrounded by a swirling mass of 'Mandalas', Buddhas, Demi Gods and
sundry other celestials, a colossal statue of Maitreya, the Buddha-to-come,
fills a niche on the ground floor, his head shielded from sight high in the
second storey.
Accompanying him are two equally grand Bodhisattvas, their heads peering
heads peering serenely down through gaps in the ceiling. Each of these
stucco statues wears a figure clinging Dhoti, adorned with different,
meticulously detailed motifs. Avalokitesvara, the Bodhisattva of compassion,
has pilgrimage sites, court vignettes, palaces and pre-Muslim style Stupas
on his robe, while that of Maitreya is decorated with episodes from the life
of Gautama Buddha. The robe of Manjushri, destroyer of falsehood, to the
right, shows the 84 masters of Tantra, the Mahasiddhas, adopting complex
yogic poses in a maze of bold square patterns.
Beautiful Frescoes Of Deities
Among exquisite murals, some repaired in the 16th ce ntury, is the famous
six-armed green Goddess Prajnaparamita, the "Perfection of Wisdom" central
to Mahayana thought, and closely associated with Tara. Heavily bejewelled,
she sits on a lotus by Avalokitesvara's gigantic left leg. Amazingly, this,
and the multitude of other images that plaster the interior of the Sumtsek,
resolve, when viewed from the centre of the shrine, into a harmonious whole.
Other Temples
The Chos-khor's three other temples all date from the 12th and 13th
centuries, but are nowhere near as impressive as their predecessors. Tucked
away at the far river end of the enclosure, the Manjushri La-khang is
noteworthy only for its relatively recent "Thousand Buddha" paintings and
gilded four-faced icon of Manjushri that fills almost the whole temple.
Next door the Lotsawa La-khang, with its central image and mural of
Shakyamuni, is one of a handful of temples dedicated to Rinchen Zangpo, the
"Great Translator". Whose missionary work inspired the foundation of Alchi;
his small droopy-eared image sits on the right of Shakyamuni. The Lama may
need to be cajoled into unlocking the La-khang Soma, the small square shrine
south of the Sumtsek, which is decorated with three large Mandalas and
various figures including an accomplished Yab Yum: the Tantric image of the
copulating deities symbolizes the union of opposites on a material and
spiritual level.
HOW TO GET THERE
Road: One bus per day leaves Leh for Alchi in summer, taking three hours to
cover the 70-km and returning early the next day. Other buses heading in
that direction leave Leh at 6.30 am (for Kargil) and 9.00 am (for Dah-Hanoo)
- one can catch one of these get off at Saspol, and walk the remaining
2.5-km via the motorable suspension bridge west of the village. |
