At the turn of the century, Buddhist culture flourished in this region right up to Tibet and the art forms were a confluence of traditional styles from Ajanta, central Asia and even the Mediterranean. But today, many of these beautiful murals, representing a pan-Himalayan lifestyle, culture, religion and people, is a crumbling edifice. The harsh weather and the negligent maintenance have made them fragile and vanishing.

Binoy K Behl, photographer and member-secretary of the Cultural Documentation and Conservation Foundation (CDFC), has been working on restoring these monasteries to their erstwhile pristine conditions. He has managed to breathe inlife to many of the monasteries, restoring the lost glory of the early 20th century.

``A lot of the initial restoration work done by CDFC has been done in collaboration with UNESCO and the Indian Army. But recently the corporate world has stepped in with a generous sponsorship to not only help the restoration but publicise the work done through a photographic exhibition of the murals to be helped from November 13 onwards at Delhi,'' says Behl.So far, Behl and his team from CDFC have been able to document extensively 56 monasteries and complete water-proofing work in at least seven ancient monasteries.

Behl says the main problem in Ladkh has been the unusual rainfall this year. ``The mud used to construct these monasteries is very dry and even a drop of water can damage the surface. So we have been using a superior waterproofing technology to save the roofs and the walls from leaking and cracking, thereby saving the murals inside,'' he says.

Many of the paintings, which date back to the 11th and 14thcentury were done by Kashmiri artists but the influence of the trade route is seen clearly with pictures depicting various regional styles in them. ``These monasteries are the origins of Buddhist art, which spread from here to other Buddhist regions in South East Asia and East Asia,'' says Behl. CDFC has also enlisted the help of the Atomic Energy Commission to study and materials used to build these monasteries and help rebuild them with the same structural material, except for the water-proofing, which is a modern technology specially developed to preserve these walls.

The main corporate sponsor has been the professional advisory firm, KPMG, which had not only sponsored some of the restoration work but also the exhibition. The company is now also sending the exhibition publicity material to its clients especially in the Buddhist countries seeking corporate donations to restore the several hundred monasteries that are dying for a restorative touch. ``KPMG constantly challenges to replace old knowledge withnew but when it comes to our heritage, old is gold,'' says Srihdar Iyengar, CEO of KPMG India. KPMG realised the need for immediate action require to save this heritage as what is lost cannot be replaced, says Iyengar. The company is spending nearly Rs 4 lakh on the exhibition alone and has a core team of ten motivated staffers to help the project through.

``We are not looking at deriving any profits from this programme. Instead we are looking at this more as a motivational exercise for our staffers. At least for the next six months I know that these ten staffers will not need any motivation drives,'' he quips.

Part of KPMG's mission statement also says that since the company make profits from the community, it should do something to return some of the benefits to the community. It has a calendar of events through the financial year to support, art and cultures, environment, old aged persons, primary education programmes and health programmes.

The exhibition on the Ladakh is part of its heritageconservation programme, says Iyengar.