A Journey To The Lama's Land, Part - 10

A Journey To The Lama's Land,  Part - 10

I woke up very early in the morning. As soon as I removed all the curtains of the wide window of the house, the always smiling, pure, innocent Stoke Kangri seemed to embrace me with both hands outstretched. Immediately I started to feel very good. I don't want to leave this awesome beauty for a moment. What exactly is the word heavenly comeliness, I would not have understood if I had not come here and seen this eternal, ever-luminous stok kangri. 

The car porch below can be seen clearly from this two-storey house. Our driver has already washed the car and now with a cup of tea in his hand he was waving his hand from below to me saying good morning. I went to get ready fast. 

It was eight o'clock when we finished our breakfast. For the last time, we said goodbye to Zum Bhai, Selim and Selim's mother. Today we will go along Srinagar-Leh National Highway. We had travelled through this road on our second day at Leh. We had visited through  this road up to Alchi Monastry. The car is running fast along the smooth wide road. The condition of road is very good. 

Our charioteer's name is Faizu. He is from  Srinagar. He looks very sharp. It is not wrong to recognize him as a Kashmiri at a glance. His elder brother is doing a furniture business in Srinagar. His brother bought this car at Srinagar around four years ago. Now Faizu is trying to increase his family income by driving this car. He is a pretty and  polite boy. 

After crossing the Alchi Monastry road, the car stopped at a very busy village. The name of the place is Khalsar. Javed, the elder son of our Hotel owner Jum Malik at Leh, teaches in a college here. Dried fruits, apples, walnuts, etc. are being sold in roadside shops. I purchased a kind of very sweet chocolate made from yak milk from here. Its taste and smell are extraordinary. 

Beyond the Khalsar, the beautyof the mountain range on both sides of the road began to change. I didn't know before that even the rock of a mountain could have such a sweet and eye-catching look. Faizu Bhai said this is the beginning of the moon land. Sometimes on the left, sometimes on the right side of the long path, a wonderful style has been created on the rock at the whim of nature. 

After a while we reached the famous Buddhist cave Lamayuru Monastery in Ladakh. The monastery is located on a hill quite a bit above the road. This ancient cave is built step by step on a hill with a large area. A lama monk is worshiping inside the temple by lighting innumerable lamps. A quiet, fragranced, immortal environment. At one end, another lama priest is making a number of small dolls out of a lump of flour and placing it on a large bronze plate. These will be worshiped. In another room, I saw a bell ringing and a priest reciting a mantra in a loud voice from a book wrapped in a red cloth in front of him. There were no disturbances anywhere. My mind was filled with a wonderful serenity. This shrine, very sacred to all Buddhists, is a well-known name for spreading and practicing knowledge and wisdom. I got information from the brief history written on the wall of this cave. At some point between 900 and 1000 AD, a Bengali prince from Bengal who was living on the banks of the River Ganges, named Samantabhadra, came to Kashmir in search of knowledge and education. From Kashmir he went to Nalanda University hoping to get more higher education. Then he came to this place in Ladakh with a strong spiritual attraction. He did austerities for a long time in a cave in this place. Later, this Buddhist saint became known as Naropa and with the help of his disciples translated and preserved many valuable Buddhist texts. As a Bengali, I was thrilled to know about Guru Naropa.

After visiting Lamayuru, our car again ran towards Kargil. Slowly we are approaching towards the valley of Kashmir through the middle of the beautiful road and the beautiful mountains on both sides. The scenery is changing little by little. 

The car came and stopped at the highest peak of Leh-Srinagar highway. Its name is Fatula Top. It is located at an altitude of about thirteen and a half thousand feet. After spending some time here, we set off again.

This time, trees, shrubs, etc. are slowly appearing on the hill. After a while, from a great height, we saw the city of Kargil on the right bank of the Indus River, shaded by greenery. This city captivates the mind at the first sight. 

Little by little we went down and left the river Indus on the left side and entered the city. Kargil is an extremely crowded city. Driving on the road is quite difficult. The road is not very wide. People are  buzzing in the streets. The cars have been parked here and there on this narrow road. For Muharram, peoples were busy to purchase the their needs. Women wear black burqas and most men wear black loin cloths. This city is with full of lives. After crossing the jam, we came to our hotel for tonight's stay. 

Hotel is just beside the River Indus. The hotel is situated along a large area by the side of the road. The hotel manager Ankush is my former acquaintance. He is a residence of Jammu. He and his colleagues were busy for arranging our lunch.

We entered our respective rooms, washed our hands and face and came to the dining hall and saw beautiful fresh mutton curry and rice in our menu. Ah, the soul, the mind and the tongue were completely united. Very rightly our Bengali poet narrated in his poem that the best desire is residing only in the taste. 

To be continued................................................................................................................