Word: himalayan
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...dizzying glories of the Himalayan peaks and gorges have long been celebrated, but few outsiders realized that, tucked away in monasteries and temples, the Himalayas harbored other glories-those of a strangely distinctive art. Scholars knew that Himalayan art was an offshoot of the Indian tradition, centered on the Buddhist and Hindu pantheon of deities. But what they knew was mostly by repute, since few had the physical stamina or the political entree necessary to reach the remote valleys and high plateaus where the monasteries and temples were lodged...
...delight of armchair travelers and art historians alike, an Indian art expert and career diplomat named Madanjeet Singh has accomplished what other scholars could not. With official and sympathetic help from all the governments concerned, Singh made 35 treks into the remotest regions of the Himalayas. His book, Himalayan Art, has just been published by UNESCO, the first volume in its Art Books series. It contains a photographic record (see color opposite) that for the first time reveals Himalayan painting and sculpture in all its sequestered splendor...
Taking a year's leave of absence from his diplomatic post in Madrid, Singh set out to record the art of the whole Himalayan region. Most crucial to his success was a letter from the Dalai Lama -he carried it "like a magic wand." It authorized him to photograph inside Hindu and Buddhist temples, which is ordinarily prohibited. By mule, Jeep, helicopter and on foot, across dizzying rope bridges, up perilous footpaths, he scaled heights that literally took his breath away. Once he narrowly escaped death when he slipped and fell, only to catch a sturdy bush ten feet...
...working queen strides the hilly lanes of her capital, Gangtok. As she passes by, the Sikkimese smile, nod and stop to chat, all formality forgotten. Hope Cooke, the shy Sarah Lawrence student married five years to the King of Sikkim, finds herself very much at home in the tiny Himalayan country. "The mountains," she says, "give me such a secure feeling. I don't feel vulnerable here...
From New Delhi, he wrote of long meetings with the Dalai Lama in the Himalayan foothills and of an eight-day retreat among the exiled Tibetan monks. One lama courteously composed a poem celebrating their meeting, and Poet Merton returned the compliment. There was an added serenity in his final letter to the Center. "In my contacts with these new friends, I also feel a consolation in my own faith in Christ and his in dwelling presence," wrote Merton. "I hope and believe he may be present in the hearts...