Hemis Monastery

Hemis Monastery is a Himalayan Buddhist monastery (''gompa'') of the Drukpa Lineage, in Hemis, Ladakh, India. Situated 45 km from Leh, it was re-established in 1672 by the Ladakhi king Sengge Namgyal. The annual Hemis festival honouring Padmasambhava is held there in early June.

Hemis village is located 40 km southeast of Leh on Leh-Manali Highway and under-construction Bilaspur–Leh line.

History

Hemis Monastery existed before the 11th century.

In 1894 Russian journalist Nicolas Notovitch claimed Hemis as the origin of an otherwise unknown gospel, the ''Life of Saint Issa, Best of the Sons of Men,'' in which Jesus is said to have travelled to India during his ' lost years'. According to Notovitch, the work had been preserved in the Hemis library and was shown to him by the monks there while he was recuperating from a broken leg. But once his story had been re-examined by historians, it is claimed that Notovitch confessed to having fabricated the evidence.'' New Testament Apocrypha, Vol. 1: Gospels and Related Writings'' by Wilhelm Schneemelcher and R. Mcl. Wilson (1 December 1990) page 84 "a particular book by Nicolas Notovich (Di Lucke im Leben Jesus 1894) ... shortly after the publication of the book, the reports of travel experiences were already unmasked as lies. The fantasies about Jesus in India were also soon recognized as invention... down to today, nobody has had a glimpse of the manuscripts with the alleged narratives about Jesus"'' Indology, Indomania, and Orientalism'' by Douglas T. McGetchin (1 January 2010) Fairleigh Dickinson University Press page 133 "Faced with this cross-examination, Notovich confessed to fabricating his evidence." Bible scholar Bart D. Ehrman states that "Today there is not a single recognized scholar on the planet who has any doubts about the matter. The entire story was invented by Notovitch, who earned a good deal of money and a substantial amount of notoriety for his hoax".

The Indian Pandit Swami Abhedananda also claims to have read the same manuscript and published his account of viewing it after his visit to Hemis in 1921. Abhedananda claims on the book jacket that it was translated for him with the help of a "local Lama interpreter." After Abhedananda's death, one of his disciples admitted that when he went to the monastery to ask about the documents, he was told that they had disappeared. (In the same vein, Notovich did not initially translate the manuscript but said that his Sherpa guide did, as he could not read the original text.) Notovich's version of the manuscript was translated from Tibetan to Russian to French to English. According to Swami Abhedananda's account, his Lama's translation was equivalent to the one published by Notovich. The Gutenberg Project has published Notovich's manuscript as a free ebook.The Project Gutenberg eBook,
The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ
', by Nicolas Notovitch, Translated by J. H. Connelly and L. Landsberg.

Paintings of Mahasiddhas

In the courtyard of the Monastery there is gallery with of paintings of Mahasiddhas Eighty-Four_Mahasiddhas. These are 17th century paintings of ground mineral pigments.
Ref images in the gallery – Paintings of Mahasiddhas 1 to 14

Hemis Festival

The Hemis Festival is dedicated to Lord Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche) venerated as the Dance Performance at Hemis Monastery representative reincarnate of Buddha. He is believed to have been born on the 10th day of the fifth month of the Monkey year as predicted by the Buddha Shakyamuni. It is also believed that his life mission
is was, and remains, to improve the spiritual condition of all living beings. And so on this day, which comes once in a cycle of 12 years, Hemis observes a major extravaganza in his memory. The observance of these sacred rituals is believed to give spiritual strength and good health. The Hemis festival takes place in the rectangular courtyard in front of the main door of the monastery. The space is wide and open save two raised square platforms, three feet high with a sacred pole in the center. A raised dais with a richly cushioned seat with a finely painted small Tibetan table is placed with the ceremonial items – cups full of holy water, uncooked rice, tormas made of dough and butter and incense sticks. A number of musicians play the traditional music with four pairs of cymbals, large-pan drums, small trumpets and large size wind instruments. Next to them, a small space is assigned for the lamas to sit.

The ceremonies begin with an early morning ritual atop the Gompa where, to the beat of drums and the resounding clash of cymbals and the spiritual wail of pipes, the portrait of "Dadmokarpo" or "Rygyalsras Rinpoche" is then ceremoniously put on display for all to admire and worship.

The most esoteric of festivities are the mystic mask dances. The Mask Dances of Ladakh are referred collectively as chams Performance. Chams performance is essentially a part of Tantric tradition, performed only in those gompas which follow the Tantric Vajrayana teachings and the monks perform tantric worship.

Gallery

File:Chortens at Hemis Gompa.jpg, Chortens at Hemis Gompa
File:Mani wall along driveway to Hemis Monastery.jpg, Mani wall along driveway to Hemis Monastery
File:View from Hemis Monastery. 2010.jpg, View from Hemis Monastery. 2010
File:Монастырь Хемис в Ладаке.jpg, ''Hemis Monastery in Ladakh'', by Vasily Vereshchagin (1875)
File:Hemis Monastery 01.jpg, The entrance of Hemis monastery
File:Hemismonastery7.jpg, Inside the Hemis Monastery
File:Mural painting, monastery Hemis, Ladakh, India.jpg, Mural painting in the Hemis monastery
File:Hemismonastery.jpg, Traditional Monk Dance at Hemis Festival
File:Hemismonastery6.jpg, Traditional Ladakhi Women at Hemis Monastery

Footnotes

References

* Francke, A. H. (1914, 1926). ''Antiquities of Indian Tibet''. Two Volumes. Calcutta. 1972 reprint: S. Chand, New Delhi.

External links

{{Authority control

1672 establishments in Asia
Buddhist monasteries in Ladakh
Drukpa Kagyu monasteries and temples
Ladakh