MAGNIFICENT MOUNTAINOUS VOYAGE

The grandeur of snow-covered mountains on Khardungla Top with snow as far as the eye could see; took my breath away and awoke the long-dormant artist in me. The place is captivating with the highest motorable road, Mandir, and the highest pass in the world. In the peak of summers, the perennial glaciers and the frozen rivulets add to its magnetism. How beautiful and bountiful could nature be? The rugged hilly roads add to the escapade. It is a voyage. It is an exploration.

The petite quaint villages, near Leh, with cascading rivulets and the specks of greenery looked just out of the travel magazines. Monasteries all around the place add to the mysticism of the place. The tranquility and calm in the night and the dim lamps in the houses in the ancient Leh town encircled by gigantic mountains and almost nil moment took us a few decades back.

Dark towering mountains and the stillness of the early morning surroundings were mesmerizing and haunting at the same time. The darkness and the tough terrain scared me but my fears were washed away with the sight of the rising sun and the luminous water of the Indus River. The early morning orange sky and the dark brown hills completed the painting of the Supreme Being.

The monasteries in Leh and Ladakh, apart from the precious collection of Buddhist scriptures, Stupas, Thangka paintings, have magnificent Buddha statues. The Thiksey monastery near Leh has almost 50 feet Buddha statue. They are sites of learning and add a charm to the otherwise dry and rugged place. The Diskit monastery in the Nubra valley is one of the oldest, offered serene atmosphere and inner peace.

The famous Pathar Sahib Gurudwara a few kilometers from Leh is a place to be revered for its calm and peaceful atmosphere. The story about Guru Nanak Dev told by my grandmother came alive.

 From then on the way to Drass and the famous Kargil town and the 'Jalebi Modh' with its twists and turns got me almost nauseated but the view from the top was too good to think of the rough and dangerous route.  The vibrancy of the green, brown, orange, and purple mountains will turn anyone into a poet or an artist. When nature beacons and it shows its raw beauty, anyone could be enchanted. 

At the sacred temple on ‘Captain Modh' near Sonamerg, every vehicle stops to pay their obeisance and remember the martyr. A young army captain lost his life while helping build a road on this complex path.

The rugged mountains contrasted by the Sonamerg’s Deodar tree line, surrounded  by flower-filled green meadows was out of this world view. The famous Amarnath Cave of Lord Shiva is situated here. A visit to the caves with its huge ice Shivling is a lifetime experience.

Slowly we were leaving the mountains behind with river flowing alongside and passing through the apple and walnut laden trees in the scenic villages near Srinagar. 

On reaching Srinagar, the Dal Lake with its boulevard of Chinar trees was a sight to withhold and submerge in the splendor of nature. We reached the city, dust-laden, but refreshed in mind. 

This journey through the rugged allure of mountains to the green boulevards of the Kashmir valley was remarkable. I undertook this trip almost two decades back but it remains etched in my memory forever.