Himalayan Religion

Buddhism has an ancient hostory that goes back to 2,500 years. During all this time, Buddhism has grown from a small religious fraternity in northern India into a movement that is spread over the globe today. The remarkable vitality and adaptability of Buddhism has transformed the civilizations of India, South East Asia, Tibet, China, Korea and Japan. Buddhism has slowly started making its presence felt in the exclusive European, Australian and the American cultures. Buddhism takes a very straightforward look at our human conditions.

The historical origin of Buddhism starts with Siddhartha Gautam who was born into a princely family in 566 B.C. He eventually renounced his life of privilege, left his wife & son and became an ascetic. After years of struggle, the auspicious moment in his life came, when he sat under a tree and evolved to the meaning of life. The Buddhist philosophy emigrated from India to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), China, Japan, Tibet, Southeast Asia, and, ultimately, the Western World.

Buddhism is divided into two different sects that are the Hinayana and the Mahayana. While the Hinayanis look after their own nirvana, or enlightenment, the Mahayanis believe in nirvana of all living creatures to be their aim and objective. The four holy sites as places of pilgrimage for Buddhists are Lumbini, where the Buddha was born, Bodh Gaya, where the Buddha was enlightened under the Bodhi tree; Sarnath, where the Buddha gave his first teaching of the Dharma and Kusinagara, where the Buddha passed away. The core of Buddhism lies in Bodh Gaya, Bihar. Bodh Gaya was thought to be the very center of the universe. The viharas are worth visiting for their splendid decor and distinctive architecture.

Tibet emerged as an important center of Buddhism in the northern Himalayas. The major influence of Tibet on Ladakh's religious culture is evident from the fact that Ladakh is part of the great Tibetan plateau and cut off from India by the formidable barrier of the great Himalayan ranges. The population of central and eastern Ladakh displays predominantly Tibetan racial features and the Ladakhi language is a dialect of Tibetan. The Vajrayana sect of Mahayana Buddhism is the dominant form of the religion in Ladakh with a mixture of the animistic Bon faith and ancient Hindu practices. The central and east Ladakh are mainly Buddhist areas while west Ladakh mainly comprises of shia muslims.

The most attractive feature of the landscape of Ladakh are the Buddhist gompas. These aesthetically pleasing and architecturally interesting gompas provide the focus for the faith of the highly religious Buddhist people. They are the places of worship, isolated meditation and religious instructions for the young. Beautiful paintings of the Buddha, Boddhisatvas, Dishapals, Dharmchakras and Mandals adorn the walls and the inner chambers of these exclusive gompas.