In this episode, the team arrives in the Nepali village of Muktinath, which is a popular destination for both Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims. The town is the home of a number of important religious sites, and while they are there, the climbers decided to take part in a Puja ceremony, during which they receive blessing and permission to climb in the sacred mountains. This is a common experience on Everest and other big peaks, but in this case, it turned into a three hour marathon. These kinds of ceremonies are a true part of the culture in the Himalaya, and well worth experiencing for yourself. In the end though, the guys need a little relief from all of that Puja.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Ski The Himalayas S3E7: Longest Puja Ever!
Ben Clark and Jon Miller return for yet another episode of Ski the Himalayas to kick off the week, and they are slowly but surely making their way to their ultimate destination of Thorung Peak, a 6157 meter (20,200 ft) mountain that they eventually hope to climb up and ski down.
In this episode, the team arrives in the Nepali village of Muktinath, which is a popular destination for both Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims. The town is the home of a number of important religious sites, and while they are there, the climbers decided to take part in a Puja ceremony, during which they receive blessing and permission to climb in the sacred mountains. This is a common experience on Everest and other big peaks, but in this case, it turned into a three hour marathon. These kinds of ceremonies are a true part of the culture in the Himalaya, and well worth experiencing for yourself. In the end though, the guys need a little relief from all of that Puja.
In this episode, the team arrives in the Nepali village of Muktinath, which is a popular destination for both Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims. The town is the home of a number of important religious sites, and while they are there, the climbers decided to take part in a Puja ceremony, during which they receive blessing and permission to climb in the sacred mountains. This is a common experience on Everest and other big peaks, but in this case, it turned into a three hour marathon. These kinds of ceremonies are a true part of the culture in the Himalaya, and well worth experiencing for yourself. In the end though, the guys need a little relief from all of that Puja.