SPITI: The Valley of Dharma

1000 years ago Rinchen Zangpo, the Great Translator, saved Buddhism from persecutions by hiding Buddha's teachings (Dharma) in the sPiti Valley. In 1933 Giuseppe Tucci, the gret tibetologist, made an expedition to this remote valley looking for the treasures hidden by Rinchen Zangpo. He found the ancient monasteries falling in ruin. Tucci reports that the few monks left were living in extremely poor material and spiritual conditions. In 1959 Tibetan Buddhism is persecuted again, this time by Maoists: the highly educated Lamas who weren't killed fled across the Himalaya. Some of these holy men took refuge in sPiti, exactly as it happened 10 centuries earlier, bringing with them loads of knowledge. Using Tucci's 1933 journal and pictures, we followed his footsteps to see how this Valley of Dharma is facing the challenges XXI century... ...what we found would have amazed Professor Tucci!