C )   M A R C H , 1 9 4 3   -   D U R B A ,   T U R B L U T   K U N H K U

Although he never saw the land of the strange rock formations firsthand (see plate 6), Peter Hesselbach was fascinated by stories about them and recorded a number in his notebook: “A long time ago, the shaman king Durba created a man, building the bones of stone, the flesh of clay, the blood of river water, and the soul of seventy different wild-flowers. The gods were greatly angered; no man had the right to create men independently of the gods. As punishment, they stole the drums of every shaman on earth and dragged them up to heaven in a huge sledge. Without their drums the shamans were rendered impotent. Enraged by the gods’ cowardice, Durba defied them to set him the most diabolical challenge they could come up with. If the shaman king could complete this challenge, the gods must give the shamans all the drums in heaven. The gods conferred amongst themselves for several days and then replied - Durba was to travel to the land where rocks are made and sit on the largest one. If he could remain on it unmoving and unsleeping until eternity had worn the rock down to nothing, the shamans would win the wager. But Zan-Sagan, the guardian God of the forge, took pity on Durba and gave him a special pair of iron boots. They say the stone, upon which Durba still sits, is already half worn away.”