Young monk on the roof of Key Monastery, with solar panel. Photographer: Sutherland, Patrick
Scope & Content:
'A young monk on the roof of Key Monastery. Solar power is an ideal technology in this high altitude desert and is subsidised by the Himachal Pradesh state government. Many houses have solar powered lamps and some schools have solar powered cookers' (Patrick Sutherland).
Monks preparing food in the kitchen of Key Monastery, Spiti. Photographer: Sutherland, Patrick
Scope & Content:
'Monks in the kitchen of Key Monastery preparing food for the monastic community. A large cauldron of cricket ball-sized lumps of pak, a mixture of tsampa (roast barley flour), black tea and butter will be distributed along with rations of Tibetan tea' (Patrick Sutherland).
Young monks wearing ancient wooden masks during the dance festival at Key Monastery. Photographer: Sutherland, Patrick
Scope & Content:
Genre: Portrait Photography Portrait of two monks wearing masks, with monastery buildings in the background: 'Young monks wearing ancient wooden masks during the dance festival at Key Monastery. These Bakhtuk act as jokers during the performances, teasing the older monks by mimicking them and ...
Kachen Lama, the oldest monk in Spiti. Photographer: Sutherland, Patrick
Scope & Content:
Genre: Portrait Photography Half-length portrait, seated inside a room in the monastery: 'The late Kachen Lama, until recently the oldest and most venerable monk in Spiti. His injured arm is held in a sling suspended from the ceiling. After his death, the villagers in Key established Spiti’s fi...
The Gelong Rinpoche and lamas at the Pin Valley monastic dance festival, Gungri Monastery, Spiti. Photographer: Sutherland, Patrick
Scope & Content:
View looking towards the Gelong Rinpoche, seated on a shaded throne, with lamas blowing long trumpets in the foreground: 'The Gelong Rinpoche and lamas at the Pin Valley monastic dance festival (cham). The Rinpoche is the current reincarnation of a line of previous spiritual heads of Gungri Mona...
Young monks studying religious texts at Key Monastery, Spiti. Photographer: Sutherland, Patrick
Scope & Content:
Genre: Portrait Photography 'Young monks studying religious texts at Key Monastery. Traditionally monasteries were the only centres of formal education in Spiti. Now there are also nunneries and many secular schools' (Patrick Sutherland).
Photographer and monks at the Kalachkra Initiation, Tabo Monastery, Spiti. Photographer: Sutherland, Patrick
Scope & Content:
'A photographer and monks at the 1996 Kalachakra Initiation at Tabo Monastery. During the ten day festival, the Dalai Lama delivered a wide range of Buddhist teachings from the simplest and most down to earth to the most elaborate and transformative' (Patrick Sutherland).
Monks distributing offering blessed by the Dalai Lama at Kalachakra Initiation, Tabo Monastery, Spiti. Photographer: Sutherland, Patrick
Scope & Content:
'Monks distributing offerings that have been blessed by the Dalai Lama at the 1996 Kalachakra Initiation at Tabo Monastery. The first monk is filling palms with sweets, raisins, nuts and broken biscuits, the second monk is playfully controlling the overzealous throng with thwacks from a stick' (...
Monk at the Kalachakra Initiation, Tabo Monastery, Spiti. Photographer: Sutherland, Patrick
Scope & Content:
Genre: Portrait Photography 'A monk at the Kalachakra Initiation performed by the Dalai Lama at Tabo Monastery in 1996, marking its thousandth anniversary. Tabo is one of the oldest Mahayana Buddhist monasteries still in active use' (Patrick Sutherland).
Public Works Department lorry ferrying monks to the Kunzum La, to bid farewell to the Dalai Lama. Photographer: Sutherland, Patrick
Scope & Content:
'A public works department lorry ferries monks to the Kunzum La, the mountain pass at the head of Spiti, where the Dalai Lama is presiding over an incense burning ceremony to mark his departure from the valley' (Patrick Sutherland).