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Karsha Monastery, the largest and most important monastery of Zanskar Valley, is situated at a distance of 450 km from Leh. The monastery, affiliated to Gelugpa or the Yellow Hat sect, comprises a set of 30 whitewashed buildings built like a cascade along the mountainside.
Currently under the control of the younger brother of the 14th Dalai Lama, Karsha Monastery was founded by the Buddhist master Phagspa Shesrab who introduced Buddhism in Zanskar Valley and attributed to Guru Padmasambhava. The monastery has a number of shrines, ancient rock carvings and Avalokiteshvara Temple. However, the most notable feature of the monastery is a chorten that contains the mummified body of Rinchen Zangpo, an incarnate lama, inside a wooden box with a silver lining.
Karsha Monastery which is the residence of 120 lamas has a unique tradition of conch blowing during lunch and dinner time to assemble these lamas for food. The practice was started as there was no other way to inform all the lamas as the buildings were spread all over the hill. Like all monastic festivals, masked cham dance is performed here by resident lamas. The monastery’s annual festival, held in January, is known as Karsha Gustor.
History
Karsha is the largest and most important monastery in Zanskar. It is attributed to Padmasambhava, and there are ancient rock-carvings at the site. The oldest remaining structure, an Avalokiteshvara temple, Chuk-shik-jal, contains wall paintings which seem to associate it with the era of Rinchen Zangpo (958-1055).
The monastery is under the control of the younger brother of the Dalai Lama. Behind his seat in the chapel is a statue of Lhaso Cho Rinpoche, which was brought from Lhasa in the 1960s and has a golden crown with carnelian and turquoise decorations. The most important festival, known as the Karsha Gustor, is held with masked cham dances on the 26th to the 29th day of the 11th Tibetan month, which is usually in January.
Mons of the Khesa race were dominant in the past in the region of western Himalayas. The Mons have been Buddhist in the region from the time of the Kushan dynasty, established by Emperor Kanishka. Mons are the dominant population in the village in the Zanskar valley and said to belong to an Aryan race linked to Kaniskha’s period as their features do not match with that of the local tribes or with the Mongolians. Mons are credited with building 30 monasteries, chortens and temples, including the Kursha Monastery in the main Zanskar valley; some of the other monasteries built by them are the: Teta, Muni, Phugtal, Pune, Burdal, Togrimo, Padum, Pipting, Tondhe, Zangla, Linshot and Sumda. Gelugpa monastery is another important monastery that is located in Khursha village, which has an excellent display of mural arts.
Kashmir is the crown state of India. It is rich in culture and diversity. Although it is known for Islamic culture, Kashmir also has a fair population of Hindus, who celebrate their festivals with much joy and ado. Along with celebrating national festivals like Diwali and Holi, Kashmir has its own local festivals. These are conducted by the local groups and people irrespective of their religious views take part in them. Some of these festivals like the Hemis festival is treated as national holiday to ensure everyone takes part in it. Such is the importance of festivals to bring people together. In this article, we shall explore some of the popular festivals in Kashmir.
