Hemis Monastery
Hemis Monastery | |
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Drukpa | |
Leadership | The Twelfth Gyalwang Drukpa |
Location | |
Location | Ladakh, India |
Country | India |
Geographic coordinates | 33°54′44.91″N 77°42′10.2″E / 33.9124750°N 77.702833°E |
Architecture | |
Style | Tibetan Architecture |
Founder | Sengge Namgyal |
Hemis Monastery is a
Hemis village is located 40 km southeast of Leh on
History
Hemis Monastery existed before the 11th century.
In 1894 Russian journalist Nicolas Notovitch claimed Hemis as the origin of an otherwise unknown gospel, the Life of Saint Issa, Best of the Sons of Men, in which Jesus is said to have travelled to India during his 'lost years'. According to Notovitch, the work had been preserved in the Hemis library and was shown to him by the monks there while he was recuperating from a broken leg,[1] and his Sherpa guide translated it for him.[2] Notovich's version of the manuscript was translated from Tibetan to Russian to French to English. However, historians view Notovitch as having fabricated the evidence, which he allegedly admitted himself.[3][4] Bible scholar Bart D. Ehrman states that "Today there is not a single recognized scholar on the planet who has any doubts about the matter. The entire story was invented by Notovitch, who earned a good deal of money and a substantial amount of notoriety for his hoax."[5]
The Indian Pandit Swami Abhedananda claims to have read the same manuscript and published his account of viewing it after his visit to Hemis in 1921.[6] Abhedananda claims on the book jacket that it was translated for him with the help of a "local Lama interpreter", and it substantially matched Notovich's publication. After Abhedananda's death, one of his disciples said that when he went to the monastery to ask about the documents, he was told that they had disappeared.[7]
Paintings of Mahasiddhas
In the courtyard of the monastery, there is a gallery with paintings of the Eighty-Four Mahasiddhas, dating back to the 17th century. These paintings are created using ground mineral pigments.
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Paintings of Mahasiddhas 1
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Paintings of Mahasiddhas 2
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Paintings of Mahasiddhas 3
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Paintings of Mahasiddhas 4
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Paintings of Mahasiddhas 5
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Paintings of Mahasiddhas 6
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Paintings of Mahasiddhas 7
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Paintings of Mahasiddhas 8
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Paintings of Mahasiddhas 9
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Paintings of Mahasiddhas 10
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Paintings of Mahasiddhas 11
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Paintings of Mahasiddhas 12
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Paintings of Mahasiddhas 13
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Paintings of Mahasiddhas 14
Hemis Festival
The Hemis Festival is dedicated to Lord
The ceremonies begin with an early morning ritual atop the gompa, where, to the beat of drums, the resounding clash of cymbals, and the spiritual wail of pipes, the portrait of "Dadmokarpo" or "Rygyalsras Rinpoche" is ceremoniously displayed for all to admire and worship.
The most esoteric festivities include the mystic mask dances. The mask dances of Ladakh are collectively referred to as chams performances. Chams performances are essentially part of the Tantric tradition, performed only in those gompas that follow the Tantric Vajrayana teachings, and the monks perform tantric worship.
Gallery
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Chortens at Hemis gompa
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Mani wallalong the driveway to Hemis Monastery
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View from Hemis Monastery. 2010
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Hemis Monastery in Ladakh, by Vasily Vereshchagin (1875)
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The entrance to Hemis monastery
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Inside the Hemis monastery
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Mural painting in the Hemis monastery
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Traditional monk dance at Hemis Festival
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Traditional Ladakhi women at Hemis monastery
See also
Footnotes
Part of a series on |
Tibetan Buddhism |
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- ^ Nicolas Notovitch (1907). The Unknown Life Of Jesus Christ, Chicago: Progressive Thinker Pub. House
- ^ "The original scrolls brought from India to Nepal, and from Nepaul to Thibet, relating to the life of Issa, are written in the Pali language and are actually in Lhassa; but a copy in our language—I mean the Thibetan—is in this convent." [1]
- ISBN 066422721Xpage 84 "a particular book by Nicolas Notovich (Di Lucke im Leben Jesus 1894) ... shortly after the publication of the book, the reports of travel experiences were already unmasked as lies. The fantasies about Jesus in India were also soon recognized as invention... down to today, nobody has had a glimpse of the manuscripts with the alleged narratives about Jesus"
- ISBN 083864208Xpage 133 "Faced with this cross-examination, Notovich confessed to fabricating his evidence."
- ISBN 978-0-06-207863-6. Archived from the originalon 15 February 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
- ^ Swami Abhedananda's "Journey into Kashmir and Tibet" rendered into English by Ansupati Dasgupta and Kunja Bihari Kundu.
- ISBN 978-1571746801.
References
- Francke, A. H. (1914, 1926). Antiquities of Indian Tibet. Two Volumes. Calcutta. 1972 reprint: S. Chand, New Delhi.