Spring in Ladakh: Where the Himalayas Begin....

The group has arrived and settled in at Songsten. Songsten Library - Center for Himalayan and Tibetan Studies is situated in the foothills of the Himalayas in the state of Uttarakhand. Prior to arriving to Songsten,the group visited the mystical pilgrimage city of Hardwar and observed Hindu worshippers partaking in bathing and ablutions to their deities. In the evening, the VIS group witnessed a Hindu ceremonial puja on the banks of the Ganges where they received blessings of water from the Holy Ganges and a tika on their foreheads from the Hindu Puntit. The group took off on a river raft adventure down the River Ganges encountering rapids whose names were coined by the famed Edmund Hillary himself. Throughout the day of rafting, we spotted cormorants having migrated all the way from Siberia as well as cod! Upon arriving to Songsten, we took a stroll around the center and visited a monastic youth school where we happened to visit during the beginning of the annual Buddhist yaknguk ceremony. The students have settled into a daily schedule here at Songsten where they are taking classes in Tibetan Script and Buddhism, specifically focusing on the 37 Bodhisattvas Teachings. They have a project to work in groups of three that include interviewing monks and utilizing the incredible Library. The hope is for students to gain a deeper understanding of a specific Buddhist concept and creatively present their project to the community of Songsten.