Student Monks at Norbulingka Monastery

Student Monks begin their learning of Buddhist scriptures at a young age.

Sitting amongst them as they chant in an atmosphere of scent and vapors of yak butter lamps in an ancient monastery hall, with painted walls darkened with the soot of the lamp over decades is a once in a lifetime sublime experience that I enjoyed in Lingdum in Sikkim. Those 4 days of immersion in that culture will probably never be repeated in my life.

But a visit to the Norbulingka monastery in Himachal Pradesh did serve me well in reminding me of the past and drawing me into reliving those through the sights and sounds I was present in.

Here are pictures from a recent trip to Himachal Pradesh:

There were other sections with young students too … but I did not photograph those.

Take a look at the Sikkim Diaries from a decade ago.

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Jaina Mishra

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