In the Indian Himalayas, at 3,350 meters in the region of Ladakh, artists are chainsawing blocks of ice from a frozen river in the village of Chilling, creating what they call a mini-Colosseum.
Inspired by China's Harbin International Ice Festival, the Kangsing collective installed the mini-Colosseum at the entry of the popular Chadar Trek that has been shut for two years due to the pandemic.
The seven-day trek extends along the surface of the frozen Zanskar river through breathtaking "frozen desert" scenery. "We're thinking we might have a festival big enough, grand enough like Harbin International Festival, something where we can ask artists from all over the world to come and participate," group member Tashi told AFP.
But one day its creators hope to emulate the famous ice hotel in Jukkasjarvi, Sweden.
The spot was selected for its lack of sunshine that might melt the ice and where whistling icy winds keep temperatures at a bone-chilling minus 17-20 degrees Celsius throughout the day.
With some support from the local government the group, which includes a doctor, has also built a sauna at the bank of the frozen river, where they manage to raise the temperature up to 60 degrees Celsius in around 40 minutes. Whoever ventures this experience is supposed to come out of the sauna wrapped in a bathrobe, take it off, leave it on the bank of the Zanskar River, and descend into the freezing water.
"It’s rejuvenating. You don't feel the cold at all," said an invigorated Tundup Gyaltsan, a local policeman.
