Flying Down from 3894 metres, a photo from Himachal Pradesh, North

Photographer's Note

Dhankar Gompa (Monastery) in Spiti - The setting of the monastery in Dhankar is nothing short of spectacular, located at height of apprx. 12,774 feet (above the sea level) near the confluence of Spiti and Pin rivers , above Shichilling village. – one of the world’s most spectacular settings for a gompa. The monastery belongs to Gelug-pa School of order.

Dhan means cliff, and kar means fort, hence Dhankar means "fort on a cliff". And this is the uniqueness of this monastery. It appears to be perched on a razor’s edge on the left bank of Spiti River. It virtually appears to be hanging in the air giving an impression to the onlooker that it will fall very soon. In 2006, World Monuments Fund selected Dhankar gompa as one of the 100 most endangered sites in the world. A nonprofit group, Dhankar Initiative, is attempting to organize its conservation.

The monastic complex is built on a 1,000-foot (300-metre) high clay spur overlooking the confluence of the Spiti and Pin Rivers. Set against an astral landscape of crumbling cliffs, the Lha-'od-pai-dgon-pa dates back to the 12th century. This old complex comprises a number of multi storeyed buildings perched together and has five different halls Kanjur, Lhakhang and Dukhang. The houses of the monasteries fit in to the nooks and crannies of the cliff.

I took this picture from the topmost level of the Monastery looking down at the valley carved by River Spiti below. I wanted to provide the viewer the feeling of Flight. With the snowfall on the other side of the river (& hence the greyness), it was quite a surreal experience, as on this side of the river, the sun still managed to shine though.

Dhankar was indeed one of those places where we lost the sense of space and time! I felt light enough (figuritively & spiritually) to fly down the slopes along the rivulets of River Spiti. I wished I could take...

A flight of fancy on a windswept field
Standing alone my senses reeled
A fatal attraction is holding me fast,
How can I escape this irresistible grasp?

Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies
Tongue-tied and twisted, just an earth-bound misfit, I

"Learning to Fly by Pink Floyd"

mrichat, kordinator, pierrefonds, bukitgolfb301, adores, isabela_sor, jhm, mkamionka, nobuikehonda, yanastallerova, delpeoples, Graal, papagolf21, dip, josepmarin, indoka28 has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

danyy (0) 2011-12-02 0:06

Bonjour Angshuman,
un paysage qui coupe le souffle, on y sent bien l'altitude, le froid, les condition de vie sйvиres.
L'encadrement de la photo est un peu trop imposant а mon idйe.
Amicalement.
Daniel.

erhan1958 (15961) 2011-12-02 0:22

selam angashu
very naturally attracted
corner of the monastery valley looks perfect
have nice days
erhan

kordinator (8738) 2011-12-02 0:31

Hello Angshuman
Lovely valley,mountains.
Excellent high point of view from top of Manastery.
Fantastic job with veri interesting informations.
Best regards
Saљa

avigur_11 (22535) 2011-12-02 0:54

A wonderful POV. I like the way you have included the old house and the laundry in this beautiful landscape photo.

ChrisJ (171146) 2011-12-02 2:51

Bonjour Angshuman,

A superb high vantage point with good sharpness & colour. I like the colourful prayer flags at left &v the snowcapped mountains in the bg. The oblique river valley adds dynamism. Tfs!

Bluejeans (64251) 2011-12-02 4:58

Ola Angshuman ,
Espero um dia vir conhecer lugares perdidos no mundo como este , a paisagem й linda , gostei muito do pequeno pedaзo do mosteiro na lateral da foto , boas core e muito ar puro :) , parabйns!!!
Um abraзo Gonзalo

mattharvey1 (1044) 2011-12-02 5:16

Hi Angshuman,

Really like the moodiness of this landscape shot with the monastery being an excellent foreground object of interest. The river adds dynamism to the picture too. The only minor things is I would liked to have seen the top of the mountain closest to us..

Cheers

Matt

arnoldenigma (42) 2011-12-02 9:28

Simply stunning Angshu-da! No words to describe! what a place! what a picture.. what a beauty! Thanks for sharing...

pierrefonds (113492) 2011-12-02 14:39

Hi Angshuman,

The downward point of view toward the river is giving depth to the composittion. The point of view is showing the details and colors of the mountains. The light fog has a special effect on the colors. Have a nice day.

Pierre

bukitgolfb301 (54014) 2011-12-02 15:48

Hi NAMASTE my dear Angshuman

Sorry for my dull reaction weekday as usual, but I enjoy your garalley very much every night. Specoially I like this sereis very much. Great framework shot by looking down angle via sharp and clear color touch.
Deep expsure gives so deep focus zones.
The contrast of white and blue is soattractive and fresh!
Thanks for sharing with your finest work and have a good Saturday,
Best regrads.

Takero from cold rainy Tokyo.

adores (46979) 2011-12-02 16:59

Hi Angshuman!
What a view from here! It was a good idea to include part of the monastery on the left and it seems the weather is so different on the other bank.Good colours, sharpness and dof!

everlasting (19680) 2011-12-03 11:25

What a view!! Good choice to include part of the monastery with its colourful prayer flags. Very nice sharpness and depth and as always excellent piece of writing.
This is TE in its truest form!

isabela_sor (47748) 2011-12-03 23:33

Good POV and good depth
I must check again your gallery to see all pics from there
Hugs

jhm (211734) 2011-12-04 1:45

Hello Angshu,

Excellent high point of view from top of monastery
Good choice to include part of the monastery with its colourful prayer flags.
Excellent composition nice panoramic image.
Very well done, TFS.

Have a nice Sunday,
John.

pajaran (114801) 2011-12-04 2:46

Pozdrav.
Dobar tekst ...
Lep pogled na kanjon, reku i planine sa snegom, lepa fotografija.
Dobar snimak, perspektiva i prikaz lepim bojama.
Lepo mesto i pogled za uzivanje u lepoj prirodi.
Sve najbolje.
Paja.

Google.

Hello.
Good article ...
Nice view of the canyon, the river and mountains with snow, beautiful images.
Good shot, nice perspective and color display.
Nice place to enjoy the view of beautiful nature.
All the best.
Paja.

mkamionka (73224) 2011-12-04 4:12

Dear Angshu,
spectacular view, fantastic composition. These monasteries which you present look amazing from the bottom but not less impressive while being inside. I like how you have included a fragment of the monastery here, it provides an excellent foreground and an extra point of interest, plus we get an imagination about the point of view you are in.
The mountains were covered pretty much in clouds yet it did not stop you from taking a fantastic photograph. I am amazed by the incredible DOF under such difficult conditions.
Excellent work,
M

holmertz (101890) 2011-12-04 7:22

Hello Angshuman,
This is a brilliant composition where the bright and colourful gompa is well placed on the side, leaving most of the view open to the spectacular scenery. The valley and the river form a strong diagpnal between the distant grey mountain and the closer hillside. I like the rough texture of the hillside and the green lines created by the grassy patches. Roughly parallel to them there is a line of rocky peaks going down the lower part of the photo. It's a tremendous view. I would like to see it for myself but I would possibly no longer be able to make it physically.
Kind regards,
Gert

nobuikehonda (3848) 2011-12-04 9:19

Hello dear Angshuman-san,

You are totally correct about the quality of the scan that I did for one of the images from Chartres. I will try to rescan the image. I have been thinking about rescanning some of my images for sometime now. Thank you for reminding me.
This newly presented image is stunningly beautiful. The presence of the snow-capped mountains in the distance displays a very harsh environment. I enjoy seeing how the corners of your photos are always very well activated. I really like photos with corners well utilized. I don’t know why but I simply think that in the corners, the magic of the image exists. If I may, I would like to do one small nitpicking of one of the peaks of the mountain in the distance. It is missing its very peak. Since all the other mountains are presented, it would have been nicer to include the very top. But the image is breathtaking. I like the image very much.

With my very best wishes,
Have a very pleasant Sunday evening, Angshuman-san

Nobu.

delpeoples (60342) 2011-12-04 20:10

Namaskar dear Angshu

I'm glad you included a part of the fort in this photo, because although the scene would have been spectaclar without it, the fort adds an element of interest and history for me. I love the rugged landscape, the definition is top-quality, as are the wonderfully natural colours. Great job, thanks for sharing.

Have a beautiful day
Lisa

TopGeo (38220) 2011-12-04 22:48

Hello Angshu! With lyrics and an interesting note, a special feeling for the viewer to view the cliff! combines the strange with emotional! Something rare yet still tempting! Flying in space, perhaps as an idea, and only the thought! Originality and uniqueness?
Best regards
Georgios

Graal (103040) 2011-12-05 0:20

Hi Angshuman,
amazing high POV. Great view from the Monastery. I like the valley and mountains. photo well done.
Have a nice day.
Aleksander

Nicou (193806) 2011-12-05 0:48

Hello

fantastique compo et iamge quel cadrage avec dans le coin quelle vue avec la belle roche, sueprbe image et compo merveilleux ce rendu cette vue.

Bravo et maitiй

Nicou

papagolf21 (152605) 2011-12-05 0:51

Cher Angshu,
Vous avez l'art et la maniиre de nous prйsenter des spectacles de tout premier ordre.
Ici, une fois encore, nous bйnйficions d'une image de grande qualitй pour son sujet et son intйrкt.
Amitiйs.
Philippe

Fis2 (169609) 2011-12-05 1:11

Witaj Angshu!
Beautiful mountains!
Wonderful place.
Good frame and composition.
Well done.
Best regards
Krzysztof

dip (21408) 2011-12-05 1:28

Hi Angshu,
another beautiful shot of the monastery in Spiti,I like the choice of POV and the way you framed it,
well done!
Dimitris.

josepmarin (59385) 2011-12-05 2:47

Namaste, my friend Angshuman,
a real bird-view in this capture caught from a spectacular POV, in a very deep and attractive image.
The white architecture of the monastery, and the colourful prayer-flags in foreground, they are a great visual reference which leads our look later towards the valley and the mountains covered by the storm clouds.
It is a brilliant composition, with a great technical accomplishment.
Best wishes,
Josep

indoka28 (5261) 2011-12-16 9:04

What a depth of view here..!!arid arid...loved the flags leading to the green and then to the river....the contours are so well defined here...!!!!! superb..>!!!