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105 x Shivling Peak, India, 2004. Towering above the Gangotri glacier is 6,543-meter Shivling Peak, the sacred summit of Shiva—the Hindu deity of death and rebirth. Each year, hundreds of pilgrims congregate in a sea of white tents in a meadow at the base of the peak and pay homage to their god. I climbed onto a ridge above the encampment to observe the ceremonial ground from a distance and to look upon the mountain. My companion, from a village in the region, had never been to Shivling, while I had heard much about it; so we took an opportunity to visit the site together—both, in our own way, on a pilgrimage. Gallery One: Nature 2 Ganges headwaters, Bhagirathi River Valley, India, 2004. A priest from the Gangotri temple accompanied me on a trek to the Ganges source and related its mythology as we walked: how the mountain wind is the breath of Shiva and the river the flow of life. He asked me about the signposts we passed that marked the recession of a glacier, and I explained the Earth’s warming trends and the loss of ice across the Himalaya, asking what it might mean for Hinduism, should the Ganges River go dry because its glacier had melted and disappeared. He shrugged his shoulders and said we live in the age of Kali—darkness—what can one expect? 4 Stupa, Khumbu, Nepal, 2004. A stupa is a reliquary holding the remains of a saint or a religious object. In simple form, it appears as a hemispheric mound of mud or rock. More elaborate versions support a dome overlooked by painted Buddha Eyes and with architectural components symbolizing the cosmos. The mud and rock stupas of the high Tibetan-settled valleys, with their handsome patinas of lichens and moss, appear to have been shaped of earthen clay as if by a potter’s hand, abraded by the natural elements of wind and rain. 5 Yilhun Lhatso, Tibet (Sichuan, China), 2006. I had crossed a 4,916-meter pass in the Chola Mountain to arrive at the holy lake of Yilhun Lhatso as a storm set in. After the weather improved, I peered outside my tent to view a surrealistic scene: hailstones had painted the ground a ghostly hue, and angry black clouds swirled maddeningly above the lake; the water was an eerie green color and glowed as if lit from deep within. Around me were ice-covered boulders on which was carved in a cursive Tibetan script: “Om Mani Padme Hum.” They protruded from the hillsides as anaglyptic pieces of the planet’s crust and emerged from the lake like the prophetic tablets of Moses. 6—7 Alchi, Ladakh, India, 2004. The eleventh-century Alchi chapels nestle into a tributary cleft of the Indus Valley. Their conical shapes and mud and rock walls echo the surrounding mountains. I bent low to enter one of the structures, leaving behind the blinding sun and dust, and found myself surrounded by red-faced demons, yellowrobed monks, and writhing green goddesses. Preserved within their secretive chapels, these ancient paintings constitute one of the most stunning in situ collections of liturgical art in the world. 8 Kawagebo (Kawa Karpa), Tibet (Yunnan, China), 2006. Mt. Captions 106 Kawagebo is one of Tibet’s holiest summits and a popular destination for Buddhist pilgrims, who circumambulate the 6,740-meter mountain on treks lasting more than a week. In Buddhist philosophy such a circuit will wipe out the sins of a lifetime. Local legend describes Kawagebo as a powerful tsen, or atmospheric spirit. Jutting high into the sky, creating winds and storms and glaciers, the summit, indeed, produces its own weather patterns, so that its legendary powers have a firm foothold in meteorological science. 9 Trongsa Dzong, Bhutan, 2004. When the monsoon reaches Bhutan, much of the kingdom recedes into clouds. The annual precipitation exceeds five and a half meters—among the highest rates in the Himalaya. Rising from the mist are the eponymous dzongs, Bhutan’s architectural gift to the world. The citadels dominate the old towns and the valleys of the kingdom. The Trongsa Dzong, dating to 1644 CE, is one of the most impressive sights in the kingdom. It too, though, gives way to the power of the monsoon and disappears from view whenever the clouds settle onto the land. 11 Ruins, Drukgyel, Bhutan, 2004. Beneath the 7,314-meter face of Mt. Jhomalhari lie the remnants of the Drukgyel...

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