Skip to content

Dharma Documentaries

Buddhism and Its Cultures

Menu
  • Dharma
  • Culture
  • Ecology
  • Archives
  • About
Menu

Himalaya, a Leader’s Childhood

Posted on March 16, 2018May 4, 2022 by Dharma Documentaries
A movie about salt traders and their epic journey through the Nepalese Himalayas, during which they grow and come to deeper understandings about life.

Himalaya, a Leader's Childhood

This is a Nepalese film from 1999 made by Eric Valli, a NatGeo photographer, about a village of salt traders and their epic journey through the Nepalese Himalayas, as they take their wares to market.

The story concerns an old village Leader whose son has just died, leading the village without a clear Leader for the yak caravans that periodically go to market with salt for sale.

The villagers want a young man Karma to be the new leader, but the old leader Tinle suspects him of killing his son, to attain to that position, and disputes it, wanting his underage grandson to be the new leader.

The whole film is beautifully shot against the harsh background of the Dolpo mountains in northern Nepal, and is a story of passion and courage played out in the difficult lives of the villagers, who struggle even to survive.

It is also a story about traditional values and rebellious youngsters who have yet to learn why the old ways are important, as tradition embodies unspoken knowledge to guide the people through their difficulties.

This is certainly one of the most memorable films I have seen in a long time. There is a similar film I showed here previously called , and for anyone enjoying this film today I also recommend they watch the latter.

The film is in French, but subtitles can be accessed from the settings.

 

if the video does not appear on the page, try reloading the page; and if that doesn’t work, leave a comment so I can update the page (the comment is not published)

 

to see an album of screenshots click here

 

TAGS:
Culture, Himalayas, Movie, Nepal, Nomads

2 thoughts on “Himalaya, a Leader’s Childhood”

  1. Sujan Mishra says:
    May 6, 2020 at 7:40 pm

    One of the beautiful movies I have seen till date. You are never tired of enjoying mountains, culture, and the whole journey. Thank you for making the movie available with subtitles.

    Reply
  2. Prakash says:
    June 4, 2020 at 6:22 pm

    It is a uniue but real story telling the triangular relationship between Human, Nature and God. Every aspect of the Movie is superb.
    My small suggestions: The English subtitle in one place is misleading though it was not made so intentionally, I believe. For God’s shake is wrongly translated as ‘for Christ shake’ (The caravan people are not Christians). Please confess it and Correct it.
    Thanks and Congratulations to all who made it high.

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Prakash Cancel reply

Comments do not appear straight away, but are moderated before publication

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search

Subscriptions

Follow our Facebook Page Follow our Tweets Subscribe to our Feed

Subscribe by Email

Email


Shortlink and QR

https://dharma-documentaries.net/b/3kR

Donations

This site has taken more than fifteen years and 1,000s of hours to build, and has more than a thousand documentaries on it. If you would like to help, you can do so here. Even small amounts make a difference.

Copyright

If anyone has any copyright claims please contact me at dharmadocus@gmail.com and the posts and films will be immediately removed.

Top Ten Tags

Theravada
Mahayana
Vajrayana

India
Silk Road
China
Tibet

Arts
Lectures
Women

Sponsorship

 hosting sponsored by exabytes.my 

Random Posts

  • The Chinese Emperor’s Secret Garden
  • Seven Wonders of the Buddhist World
  • Lost Oasis on the Silk Road, Parts 1-3
  • Looted, Cambodia and Thailand
  • Looking for Ancient Tibet
  • A Buddhist Kingdom Beneath the Sands
  • Japan: The Meeting of the Gods and Buddha
  • The Land of the Disappearing Buddha
  • Earth from Above
  • The Story of Sudhana, Balustrade, Level 3

Recent Posts

  • Forgotten Angkor: LiDAR Reveals Hidden Technology
  • Myanmar, The Grand Plain of the Irawaddy
  • For the Benefit of All Beings
  • Bactria and Ai Khanoun
  • Greek & Persian Influence on Early Buddhism
  • Sri Lanka, Hidden Wonders of a Sacred Land
  • Unseen China
  • Unseen Tibet
  • Thangka-Paubha, Beyond The Canvas
  • Xuanzang of the Tang Dynasty

Related Posts:

  • Ancient Ladakh by Clemens Kuby
  • Asian Corridor 1, The Last Horse Caravan
  • Enlightened, an unauthorised story of the Dalai Lama
  • Himalaya, Path of Yarchagumba
  • Laos, the Village above the Clouds
  • Amala, The Life and Struggle of the Dalai Lama’s Sister
  • Karma Girl
  • Urgan, Child of the Himalaya
  • Survive (the Khmer Rouge)
  • Irrawaddy, the Sacred River of Burma
© 2025 Dharma Documentaries | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme