Our Recent Motorcycle Tour of Kinnaur-Lahaul-Spiti

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Shelika Gaur
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Re: Our Recent Motorcycle Tour of Kinnaur-Lahaul-Spiti

Unread post by Shelika Gaur »

Thanks Mr Sury and Mr Dusty
Natural colors have been used here in these paintings.
Some of the paintings are more than 1000 years old. However, some might have been painted all over again by the artists of the mediaeval times. Moreover, some might also have been worked upon by the archaeology department, government of India, which, I am afraid does not do the perfect work and is deficient in many aspects.
Again, some of the paintings have soft hues and many have quite vivid and strong colors.
Due to the seepage of water from the roof many have been tarnished and have lost color.
One more interesting fact about these paintings isthat they are called Ajanta of the Himalyas. You know the paintings at Ajanta are very eminently renowned in India.
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sury
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Re: Our Recent Motorcycle Tour of Kinnaur-Lahaul-Spiti

Unread post by sury »

For those of you curious, you can find more info. on the Ajanta cavers that Shelika is referring to here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajanta_Caves

Sury
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Birma
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Re: Our Recent Motorcycle Tour of Kinnaur-Lahaul-Spiti

Unread post by Birma »

More great pictures, Shelika :)

Thanks for the link, Sury!
Nex 5, Nex 6 (IR), A7M2, A99 and a bunch of lenses.
aster
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Re: Our Recent Motorcycle Tour of Kinnaur-Lahaul-Spiti

Unread post by aster »

.

Hi Shelika; : )

Sometimes I enjoy a thread but not get the chance of commenting as often...

This has been a very colourful, insightful experience of looking at the sacred values of a different culture. The blue-eyed depiction of the gods and goddesses, the emphasis on indigo blue and the narrative from both you and Sury livened up the thread.

Thanks for sharing. Is blue-eyed Tara a historical fact or is it about the 'value' of blue in your culture that enabled the use of it for the inlay for iris colours? Just curious if blue as a colour has more value to empahasize anything pertaining to the sacredness or belief illustrated on these ancient walls...although other colours are as vivid, somehow the use of blue drew my attention.

Yildiz
Shelika Gaur
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Re: Our Recent Motorcycle Tour of Kinnaur-Lahaul-Spiti

Unread post by Shelika Gaur »

Hi Birma and Aster. Thanks for your kind comments. I would try to jot down a few observations.
There is immense diversity in cultural expressions in India. We started our motorcycle journey from PanchkulaHaryana and we had a tour of about 15 days through the Himalayas. It was a circuit. From Panchkula to Kaza to Manali to Panchkula. It can be seen on the google map. Around 1200 Kms. So we went through the mountains which have a different culture from the culture which is present around Panchkula where we reside. So I don’t have much knowledge about this culture of the mountains which is Buddhistic and has been derived from various sources including Tibet and Kashmir. MrSuri would also tell us that his culture at Hyderbad is quite different from this Buddhistic culture of the mountains.
However I would try to answer your questions for which the material has been supplied by my husband.
As you surely would be knowing blue eyes are not confined to the mountains of India. We have blue eyed people all over the world. There are theories of mutation through which the blue eyes were generated around 10,000 years back and later spread particularly among the Europeans.
Blues eyes are not common among the people of Indian plains where I reside.
Blue eyes were perhaps sign of pure blood among the Aryans and it is said they migrated to India particularly in the northern Himalayas. The paintings of Tabo belong to the High Himalayas so the blue eyes might be due to the influence of these racial migrations of the Aryans.
Now about the symbolic significance. There is a theory that in the center of galaxies there is an emission of energy and blue wavelengths are transmitted more and there is a shape like the outlines of blue eyes. So possibly the blue eyes in every culture may signify the emission of light which in Buddhistic terms is knowledge.So blue eyes are found in Egyptian (Horus) and Sumerian gods and maybe other gods.
In Buddhism the blue color is connected to the vastness of sky and ocean. There are fivetranscendental Buddhas.One of them isAkshobhyawho isblue bodied. They represent the different stages of transformative process of Nirvana. The blue color of eyes transmutes the anger into a kind of wisdom destroying a specific kind of earthly delusion. Also meditation on the blue color is said to purify the ears.
Shelika Gaur
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Re: Our Recent Motorcycle Tour of Kinnaur-Lahaul-Spiti

Unread post by Shelika Gaur »

These are three images dealing with the details of portions of the paintings.

Tabo Paintings Details I.jpg
(145.82 KiB) Downloaded 1643 times
Tabo Paintings Details II.jpg
(136.49 KiB) Downloaded 1643 times
Tabo Paintings Details III.jpg
(136 KiB) Downloaded 1643 times
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sury
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Re: Our Recent Motorcycle Tour of Kinnaur-Lahaul-Spiti

Unread post by sury »

Excellent details.

Sury
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