Landscapes
Dhankar Lake, Spiti, District Lahaul &Spiti, H.P. May, 2000
Dhankar Lake, Spiti, District Lahaul &Spiti, H.P. May, 2000
Once a large block of stagnant ice trapped in rocky glacial debris, the Dhankar Lake and its purlieus provide succour to the people of Dhankar and Sijiling villages for grazing their Yaks. It also serves as a government sponsored experimental breeding pond for fish.
Shilling Village, Pin Valley, Spiti, District Lahaul & Spiti, H.P. August, 2000
Shilling Village, Pin Valley, Spiti, District Lahaul & Spiti, H.P. August, 2000
It took a million years for the rocks to flex their muscle and fold themselves over a mountainside. In a blink of an eye, humans came along and raised four walls, a roof. In search for their bit of sky, some Spitians have settled over ledges marooned from all civilization…yet forming the main spoke of their culture.
Changdum, Southern tip of Tso Moriri, District Ladakh, J & K, July, 2000
Changdum, Southern tip of Tso Moriri, District Ladakh, J & K, July, 2000
As the sun settles down for the night, a Changma couple walk their pets back home…it’s a walk trodden for centuries by their forefathers to sustain a lifeline with their cattle and tradition.
On the flanks of Tso Moriri, District Ladakh, J &K
On the flanks of Tso Moriri, District Ladakh, J &K
Blue in some unknown melancholy, clouds weep over hills cuddling Tso Moriri. There’s beauty, but there’s some stranded pain somewhere too… nature always has it is unscripted act in hand.
Korzok, District Ladakh, J &K July 9, 2000
Korzok, District Ladakh, J &K July 9, 2000.
For about two million years, the clouds have patterned the Tso Moriri in isolation. Today, they cast themselves to stress the arrival of man …and his means.
Tso Moriri, 149000 Ft. District Ladakh, J &K July, 2000
Tso Moriri, 149000 Ft. District Ladakh, J &K July, 2000
Every moment, arising as if from the womb of the lake itself,
seems to linger…
to float as a lazy dream along its gently lapping shores
and brooding dark stones.
Korzok, District Ladakh, J &K, India, July, 2000
Korzok, District Ladakh, J &K, India, July, 2000
As the dark and looming clouds of Tso Moriri make way for a distant snowclad peak to rightfully take its place in the serenade of the landscape, bright colored scarecrows flirt with the capricious wind.
Village Kapla, District Kinnaur, H.P.
Village Kapla, District Kinnaur, H.P.
Centuries ago, humans must have met with other humans in a wild virgin land lost in the Himalayas. Over time they decided to make it home. They played with the landscape …carved the fields, made gods and placed villages around them.
One such habitation, Kalpa, the erstwhile district headquarters of Kinnaur, sits in reverence under the guarding clouds of Kinner Kailash, the abode of Lord Shiva and the highest peak in the area.
Chango Dogri, Ropa Valley, District Kinnaur, H.P.
Chango Dogri, Ropa Valley, District Kinnaur, H.P.
Rattanjot (a herb used to color food) abounds the hillslopes above 13000Ft. in parts of the Kinnaur Valley.
As the valley below prepares for the night, thousands of a variety light up with the late afternoon sun.
Devi ki marhi camp, 11500 ft.
Devi ki marhi camp, 11500 ft.
Meadows sprinkled with wildflowers welcome after the descent from the Kalyani Pass.