Land of the High Passes: Ladakh

I am drawn to places which evoke the feeling that time has forgotten the landscape, places of rugged beauty, sculptured by ice and water, snow and wind. Ladakh is such a place. It is a region in Kashmir, sandwiched between India to the south and China to the north. To its east is Tibet.

Ladakh is a vast barren land of forbidding high passes, of snow and stone, expanses of sand furrowed by the wind, of mysterious conjunctions of earth and water, and endless vistas of blue sky and cloud. An exceptional people of vitality, dignity and calm has called this enigmatic land home for millennia. The late Prabuddha Das Gupta, one of India’s finest photographer has captured this ancient land in glorious black and white, as have others following his footsteps.

Photo by Prabuddha Das Gupta
Photo by Prabuddha Das Gupta
Photo by Prabuddha Das Gupta
Photo by Prabuddha Das Gupta
The largest monastery in Ladakh, tucked in a tiny valley between towering mountains. Photo by: Indranee Dutta.
A bird perches on a pole holding up a string of prayer flags. Photo by: Indranee Dutta.
One last look at a land that time has forgotten. Photo by Indranee Dutta.

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