In the summer of 632 CE, a Chinese traveller looked out from the Jayendra Vihara monastery, across the soft green Vale of Kashmir and the blue expanses of its lakes, to the sparkling snow peaks of the Himalayas. Even to his Chinese compatriots he was an imposing figure: over 6 feet tall, he wore his customary brown wool robe and broad belt, now with perhaps an extra layer, as even in summer Kashmir can be chilly.
