Pics from yesterdays travels around Dharamsala

Figures at the Tibetan Doll Museum at the Norblinka Institute in Dharamshala document and show the history of the Tibetan people with lovely detail through various displays of doll figures.













Right. Norblinka Institute is for the preservation of Tibetan Arts and Culture. We went here and saw artisans at work. They are in three to seven year program. One program is for artists to make Thankgas, which are traditional depictions of buddhist images.








One of the Karmapas lives here, right, at a monastery in Dharamshala. As I understand it, he lives in exile from Sikkim, where it is considered to be too dangerous for him to "take up his seat" there. You can see a some of the Himalayas in the backround, although some clouds are covering the snow capped peaks.


Not pictured from yesterdays travels is our visit to an Interfaith event presided over by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar yesterday evening. The interesting thing about this last activity was witnessing the affection the up near 20 thousand people have for Sri Sri Ravi! There was so much laughter in the crowd as Ravi spoke with them and answered their questions about life. Sri Sri has the "Art of Living" organization. On the stage were various Swamis and religious leaders, including a rep from the Dali Lama. I think all the leaders were from Himachal Pradesh, which is a state within the larger country of India. Sri Sri is an amazing personality able to connect with so many people. The event was in Hindi so we understood little. We saw scant Westerners in the crowds. I know that Sri Sri Ravi visits the U.S. and Denver area, but this is the first I have seen him in action--a tremendous personality indeed. Keith started laughing along with the crowd, but didn't know what he was laughing at. People were asking serious questions about life during a question and answer period, and at times Sri Sri was quite impassioned with his answers.

---David