The gompa: Symbol of artistic divinity
By Suparna-Saraswati Puri

THE fact that people from all walks of life experience peace on entering the domain of the lamas, i.e. a gompa, is indeed a remarkable phenomenon. On setting foot in any of the monasteries, visitors are engulfed by the serenity of the surroundings.

The biggest tourist attraction of Leh-Ladakh, is these gompas. Just like a trip to Maharashtra would be incomplete if the enchanting caves of Ajanta and Ellora remain unseen, similarly, no outsider can possible return home without paying a visit to the gompas that are situated in and around Leh.

It is not only the spiritual aspect of the gompa that is remarkable but the tremendous exposition of a dying or probably an already-extinct art form that is alluring. For those who appreciate the largeness of life as expressed through the medium of art and aesthetics, viewing the interiors of a gompas is truly a unique experience. Each gompa has its own garbgrih (the shrine room) where a huge golden idol of Buddha sitting in padmasan is placed in the centre of the room and on both sides are smaller statues cast in bronze and gold of the senior lamas who founded the monastery. They, too, are venerated with religious conviction and spiritual sincerity by the monks of the gompa.

A gompa also possesses a library that preserves some ancient manuscripts on Buddhist philosophy. The block-printing technique is used for increasing the collection of texts in the library.

A colourful flagpole towers in the central verandah of a gompa that is surrounded by a wall exquisitely painted in vibrant and eye-catching dyes. The life and times of Lord Buddha are usually depicted on these walls. The themes are taken from a variety of sources ranging from the Jataka Tales to the sermons on Dharamchakra parivartan. The wall paintings exhibit an amazing precision in execution and eye for details. It is obvious that the artists were well trained and highly informed on the existing style and methodology of their times. They even managed to keep a certain amount of uniformity while providing symmetry to their art.

Their choice of colours makes us want to believe that their aesthetic sensibilities were highly developed. The burnt seinna background with black, white and lots of indigo blue makes the barren surrounding come alive.

Some of the prominent gompas in the vicinity of Leh are Hemis (one of the largest and most important gompa in Ladakh), Tikse (of Dil Se fame), Matho (where monks are possessed by spirits and go into a trance at the time of an important festival), Spitok (houses a 1000-year-old Gonkhang) and the Shey Palace which has a 12-metre-high sitting image of Buddha.

Apart from visual arts, performing arts are also associated with the gompas of Leh-Ladakh. Chams is a monastic dance performed by the lamas of a gompa during the Ladakh festival. One of the largest and most spectacular of the gompa festivals held during June-July is the one at Hemis.

Sadly, the wall paintings in some of the oldest gompas of the region are in danger of being lost to the world. Utter negligence on the part of the natives of the area and the inmates of these monasteries has resulted in serious damage to these paintings. However, the situation is now gradually becoming better due to the efforts of The Cultural Documentation and Conservation Foundation, which has deployed a team of heritage restorers under the guidance of Benoy Behl and Sangitika Nigam, prominent trustees of the foundation, to preserve the paintings. The credit for restoring whatever little can be salvaged from these dying gompas, must go to these art saviours who are racing against time to preserve the rich and historical legacy of this region for the sake of posterity.