THE MAGNETIC HILL , SANGAM AND AN IRATE MONK -LADAKH JOURNEY

 From the Gurudwara Pathar Sahib we proceeded to the magnetic hill 

Everywhere around us we could see a rough terrain with hardly any trees but as our car passed through, each bend and corner offered us a delightful stark but rich palate of scenery, the  pristine white clouds  played a lovely chorus to the beautiful ballet being played by the nature

Our next stop was at the Magnetic hill which lies at a distance of 30 km from Leh on the Leh- Kargil highway, it is at an elevation of around 14,000 feet above sea level. 

We were told that this is one of the major tourist attractions and an almost essential stopover for all those who travel to Ladakh. 

Many magnetic hills exist all over the world but this hill has some mystery and history attached to it and this always attracts tourist interest

Locals believe that this road leads straight to heaven, some say that the hills rising high above the road have magnetic power 

We found that the hill was girdled by the Sindhu river on one side and had the mighty Himalayan range guarding it on one side

Whether it is an optical illusion or fact, the Magnetic Hill in Ladakh has mysterious magnetic property that surely draws tourists from across the world.

We parked our car and got down, we were already dazed by the beauty of the mighty nature around us and therefore were stunned to see cars getting parked in the designated area in neutral and drivers to make it obvious that they were not running the vehicles could be seen perilously swinging out of their cars

Some were trying to stand, sit or lie down on the road , did they believe that they would tumble down the hill like Jack and Jill due to magnetic gravity I wondered ,my husband and I were very amused by the antics being displayed by some of the young tourists

Our driver said that the Magnetic hill is an optical illusion caused by the descending and rising terrain, it could be true because alignment of the road and the absence of a visible horizon due to the huge hills around creates a downward slope to appear like an upslope ,this leads to the car slowly gaining momentum which appears to be going uphill against gravity when in fact it is rolling downhill

However it is said that the hills do have magnetic influence and the planes don’t fly over these hills

We took the mandatory photographs, the area had some cafes scattered with the tea and noodles 

We next visited the Sangam, the Indus Zanskar confluence which was around 35 km away from the town of Leh towards Kargil, on the Leh – Kargil – Srinagar National Highway located in the Nimo Valley. 

The green tinged Indus river originates in the Tibetan plateau near Manasarovar range and is one of the longest rivers in Asia. It was the lifeline of the great Indus Valley civilization and the Harappan civilization of India which were some of the most ancient, rich, and planned civilizations mankind has ever witnessed. 

The Indus river drains the dry and deserted terrains of Ladakh's landlocked valley and serves as its lifeline for water

The shiny blue Zanskar has its origin in Zanskar valley and is a tributary of Indus river and merges into it from the north-eastern direction.

In the summer season, Zanskar is swollen and rapid, while Indus is comparatively calmer. In the winters, Zanskar slows down and is completely frozen at a lot of places, enabling the legendary Chadar Trek , while Indus flows fast, with ice floating on it.

We found roads cut into the slopes of the barren mountains to take us to the Sangam. We stopped at the view point on top of the hill where we could appreciate the distinct color difference, the muddy green Indus merging with the blue Zanskar river .

We slowly drove down and found that the sight was too beautiful even to describe, luckily the tourists were few, river rafting activities had not yet started and the customary cafes  were sleepily opening up and few local Ladakhis selling local handicrafts, almonds and apples could be seen.

We stepped down into the flowing water at the bank and found that the water force was very strong, we were advised not to go too far inside 

My hubby as usual ragged me saying that I could have traveled down the river to Pakistan if I had the foresight to take a visa, I gritted my teeth and gave back a feeble grin 

We found on the hills, slogans written by the Border Roads Organization, Project Vijayak  “ BRO at your service ,pride of the nation, Hope you enjoyed the ride ” 

Wherever we went in Ladakh we found these brave hearts protecting the land, repairing the roads at jet speed wherever there were landslides which were very common in these areas due to the snow melting and flowing down the mountains in form of streams

The Border Roads Organization (BRO) is a road construction executive force in India that provides support to and is now a part of the Indian Armed Forces. BRO develops and maintains road networks in India's border areas and friendly neighboring countries. 

By 2022, BRO had constructed over 55,000 km of roads, over 450 permanent bridges with a total length of over 44,000 meter length and 19 airfields in strategic locations. BRO is also tasked with maintaining this infrastructure including operations such as snow clearance

Our next and last trip for the day was to Spituk Monastery, also known as Spituk Gompa or Pethup Gompa, a Buddhist monastery in Spituk, in Leh district, 8 kilometers from Leh. 

It was founded by Od-de in the 11th Century when he introduced the monastic community to this region. Spituk means exemplary 

The monastery has 100 monks living there and a giant statue of Kali / Vajrabhairava .

We parked our car and started climbing up, seeing the height at which the monastery was built, my heart almost skipped its beat, observing the dismay on my face, my hubby told me this was the reason he was hesitant to choose Ladakh as we are too old to do such adventures, of course his words naturally egged me on and set me going ahead bravely 

As we climbed up we found that that the monastery was multi-leveled with steps leading to series of courtyards and we could rest for some time on the pretext of looking around

We could get the first view of beautiful Leh valley on one side and Shey and Phey on the other side where there was lot of greenery.

The air was very windy and there was silence all around us, view of Indus flowing down the valley was awesome and one could feel one with nature. 

We saw a giant prayer wheel on our way up and  I dutifully turned it in the clockwise direction

The Dukhang Hall is the largest building and has two rows of seats running the length of the walls to a throne at the far end. Sculptures and miniature chortens are displayed on the altar. 

There is also a collection of ancient masks, antique arms and fine thangkas.

We were at the monastery for a while and tried to meditate as the peaceful surroundings were very conducive, suddenly we were rudely disturbed by an irate monk who asked us to leave ,probably he was feeling hungry and wanted to lock up

I asked him how much more climb we had to do to go to kali temple ,he muttered there is no kali and swinging his hefty bundle of keys he left for his abode, though I was upset with his rudeness I was impressed by the intricate door handles 

We were now sceptic but still persisted as we had climbed so far indeed higher up the hill was the Mahakala Temple, containing the shrine of Vajrabhairava . As I was feeling very thirsty with all the climbing ,I had a glass of water from the bronze containers placed all through the monastery ,the water was ice cold and very tasty and refreshing

Apart from Buddha idol, we saw different idols of Maha Kala /Vajrabhairava though the face of the idol was covered. Locals often refer to this place as Kali Mata Mandir but it is the temple of Mahakala the fiercest Buddhist guardian divinity. The terrifying face of Vajrabhairva is unveiled only at the annual festival in January.

Inside the Gompa, a monk was beating a drum and chanting prayers which had a musical slant and were relaxing 

Devotees had offered money, fruits, tetra pack fruit juices, Mazza and Coca-Cola which was quite a unique sight for us, oil lamps were lit as in any monastery

Every year, on the 17th and 19th day of the 11th of the Bodhi month, the Gelukpa order of monks celebrate the Spituk festival known as Gustor.

During the festival, the lamas wear masks of religious deities and perform the dances about good and evil and mythological stories related to the Buddhism.

PATRIOTISM AND MIRACLES –LADAKH JOURNEY

We had a fitful sleep and woke to the sight of the beautiful mountains peeping through our huge windows, the clouds appeared to be mocking at me for getting up so late. 

We quickly freshened up and had breakfast, here let me mention that the high altitude kills our appetite and slows our metabolism rate, our  eyes and palate may prompt us to eat more but our body refuses to digest what we eat ,we had this experience in Gangtok and Bhutan too .

Perhaps this is the reason why people who stay in mountain areas are slim and agile and can walk long distances and climb steep hills effortlessly

Our driver came promptly and we first went to Hall of Fame museum located on the Leh- Kargil Road, about 4 km from the city of Leh where we were put up

Hall of Fame is a museum constructed by the Indian Army in 1986 in memory of our brave soldiers who laid down their lives defending our motherland in the Indo-Pak wars and remains open from 9 A.M to 1 P.M. and from 2 P.M. to 7 P.M.

We went there at 10 am and found quite a long queue, we paid Rs 250 per person by credit card as cash was not being accepted and extra for our cell phones too as we would be taking snaps

An ex-service man can be hired as a guide by a group of five persons for an extra Rs 500 and he takes them around the museum and explains all the displays in detail

We saw the statue of a serene Lord Buddha sitting in front of the Hall of Fame with a message that read, "It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell." Yes I thought we have to learn to conquer ourselves of greed, of anger, of jealousy and so many other things

The Hall of Fame museum stands as a reminder of the great sacrifices made by our soldiers to ensure the safety and security of our country,  in fact it is very true that we sleep soundly at night in our homes because our soldiers stand guard for us braving the extreme temperatures

The Hall of Fame museum was divided into various sections with multiple displays. There was a section called OP Vijay Gallery. Here, we could see the various weapons used in the Kargil war, along with the various arms and ammunition captured by the Indian Army during the war. 

In another section, various kinds of apparel and amenities used by the Indian Army in the Siachen region were displayed. Some of these showed the pictures of army posts on the glacier, quarters of the troops and their training process on ice walls, besides others.

Another section we found many pictures of Kargil War on the walls giving an elaborate and detailed account of how the Indian Army fought the war. 

There was also a wall named "Lest We Forget" which displayed the photographs of those soldiers who laid down their lives defending our nation.

This was for me a very moving sight to come across ,it reminds one of the enormous sacrifices made by our soldiers to ensure that our country is safe and secure from foreign aggression at all times.

On the same ground floor, there was also a projection room where we can watch a documentary on "Operation Vijay". One particular touching sight on this floor was a frame on a wall named "The Last Post". This was the letter written by Captain Vijayant Thapar to his parents few days before he attained martyrdom. On reading the letter, I was moved by a profound sense of grief and pride in these young brave men and my eyes filled with tears involuntarily.

I always feel we should never forget the bravery and exemplary courage displayed by our soldiers while performing their service in the line of duty and be grateful forever for their sacrifices

There was a section which displayed the history, culture and other  facts about Ladakh. 

There was a souvenir shop selling several items including t-shirts, caps, coffee mugs and pashmina shawls famous in Ladakh and also a cafe selling hot beverages and noodles.

We were amused by the warning signs at the compounds near the gate which said "TRESPASSERS WILL BE SHOT DEAD” and the army men indeed looked as if they really meant it!

We next proceeded to the Gurdwara Pathar Sahib which suddenly appeared as if from nowhere, it was about 25 miles away from Leh, on the Leh-Kargil road and it is open from 4.15 am to 8.30 pm

The Gurdwara was built in 1517 to commemorate the visit to the Ladakh region of Guru Nanak Dev, the founder Guru of the Sikh faith and is looked after by the army

In the late 1970s during the construction of the Leh-Nimu road, a large boulder was found in the middle of the future road  covered with Buddhist prayer flags.

The bulldozer driver tried to push the huge stone to the side, but it refused to move, it remained intact resisting their efforts to blast it and in course of time the workers were visited by several Lamas and other Ladhakhis who told them the story of a Holy Saint called Nanak Lama and said that the unyielding boulder was a 'mould' that contained a hollow imprint of Guru Nanak’s shoulders, head and backside. 

As the folk lore goes, during 1515-1518 when Guru Nanak was returning to Punjab through Srinagar, after travelling to Sikkim, Nepal and Tibet, he had rested at this place. 

Incidentally there was a wicked demon living in that area who terrorized the local people, seeing Guru Nanak’s popularity the demon got into a rage and decided to kill Guru Nanak Dev.

One morning when the Guru was sitting in meditation in the river bed, the demon pushed a large boulder (pathar) from the hilltop to kill him. The boulder gained speed as it rumbled down the hillside, but when it touched the Guru's body, it softened like warm wax and came to a halt against Guru Nanak's back.

The Guru kept on meditating unhurt and undisturbed. Presuming  that the Guru had been killed, the demon came down and was taken aback to see the Guru much alive and deep in meditation. As the stone was soft as wax the demon realized the spiritual power of the great Guru and begged for forgiveness 

Guru Nanak thereafter continued his holy journey towards Srinagar via Kargil. 

We entered the Gurudwara Pathar Sahib, I was very thrilled to visit it as it was a famous place 

We found a small moat with water to clean our feet and locker facility to keep our footwear. Small orange scarves were offered to cover our heads as it is a compulsory practice in Sikh religion

We entered the darbar hall, the pathar pushed down by the demon, with the imprint of the body of Guru Nanak Dev was on display .

There were stone plaques in the walls of the temple and the portraits gifted to the temple by the various army units which had a tenure in Ladakh as a token of appreciation for protection offered to the army

We were offered delicious suji ka halwa ,I put forward my right hand which is a habit we have when taking Prasad in temples and the jawan gestured sternly to fold both my palms which I did feeling very chastened!

We also had lunch which was simple but filling, the army jawans served the food in a very hygienic and methodical manner and this time I remembered to take the roti offered to me in a proper way much to the amusement of my dear hubby

When we came out, our driver pointed out the opposite hill on which there was a small structure Nishan sahib signifying that this was the  place from where the monster threw the stone at Guru Nanak  ,some brave souls were climbing the steps there but we didn’t dare to thanks to our heightened oxygen level awareness ,L.O.L