Head to the Naropa festival for a glimpse of Ladakh's rich Buddhist culture

Kumbh of the Himalayas: The five-day Naropa festival in Hemis offers liberation by sight and a glimpse of Ladakh's rich Buddhist culture, costumes, dance, music and traditions

The slow cavalcade of monks led by an ornately decorated vehicle comes down the winding road carrying one of the sacred bone ornaments of the saint Naropa from the Hemis monastery, the only one of the six to be displayed at the festival in 2018. Awaiting the arrival is a long line of monks playing the drums, bugles, pipes and an array of instruments alien to all except locals, flanking the vehicle on both sides. As the vehicle approaches, the playing gets more frenzied and the sound more deafening. All eyes are peeled on the sacred ornaments carried under a