About the photographer:

“ I am basically an adventurer, explorer and a landscape photographer from Mumbai (India), and have undertaken several trekking expeditions in the difficult high ­ altitude (15,000 to 19,000 feet above sea-level) Himalayan regions in India, Nepal and in Tibet. My love for nature led me to explore the un-spoilt and unknown areas of the Himalayas and to take photographs, mostly of landscapes, cultures, traditions and the humble lifestyle of the local people who live in the remotest Himalayan Mountains.

Photography is my most loved hobby and I am pursuing this since childhood. I have a collection of unique & outstanding transparencies of the Himalayas inclusive Kailas-Manasarovar & Tibet region, which I have been taking since the past seven years in different moods of season. The pictures are rare & unique, and difficult to obtain. These pictures are a result of several death-defying forays into the Himalayan mountain range, which are captured with my Nikon F5 & Hasselblad bodies with innovative professional ultra wide to telephoto lenses. Most of the trekking, documentation and exhibition that I have done has been a solo effort.

Apart from the Himalayas, I have also explored & traveled several times since 1990, to Tibet and the Kailas ­ Manasarovar region from the different & various routes, which lies in the Ngari region of Western Tibet, and has performed more than 13 auspicious kora (parikrama). During my journeys I have made detailed study through my lens of that region’s geography. The place is so spiritual and mystic that one is short of words for praise.

I was appointed the official advisor, producer and photographer for the Manas ­ Kailas Ram Katha; organized by Indo ­ British ­ Cultural ­ Exchange (UK); which was recited on the banks of the Lake Manasarovar by the world renowned Sant Shri Morari Bapu.

During the month of April, 1998, the Centre for Photograph as an Art Form hosted an exhibition of my photographs on Kailas ­ Manasarovar at the Piramal Gallery, NCPA, Mumbai. The exhibition drew an overwhelming response, which is record till date of highest viewership.

A majority people in the world are not aware of the Kailas ­ Manasarovar region, which is still mysterious as ever, and have always been considered the most difficult pilgrimage in Asia. Though thousands of people aspire to journey to the divine land, Hindus consider the pilgrimage to Mt. Kailas and Lake Manasarovar as one of the most holiest and difficult of the several tirthas in the Himalayas. To do the journey one requires tones of physical and mental energy. The region is remote, uninhabited, and isolated. The distance is tremendous and seems unending. The weather is harsh and unpredictable. The high altitude makes oxygen scarce in the atmosphere. The temperature could soar to 40 Degrees C and drop to 0 Degrees just in a matter of a few hours. Supplies are virtually non-existent and the terrain is not very friendly either. The pilgrim has to undergo extreme hardship under extreme temperatures. Nevertheless, pilgrims come from all parts of the world, defying all hardships. They trek for 53 Kms around Mt. Kailas and 88 Kms around Lake Manasarovar at altitudes between 15,000 to 19,000 feet above sea level. ”

Manoj Kheradia

Studio Kailas
7/8 Patel Chamber,
S.A. Brelvi Road, Fort,
Mumbai 400001 (Maharashtra)
INDIA

Tel: 0091-22-22694508
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