PUMA India has launched ‘Meditation in Motion’, a campaign featuring 40 Buddhist monks at Ladakh’s Thiksey Monastery, ahead of the Ladakh Marathon scheduled for September 10–13.
The campaign explores the common ground between meditation and running, focusing on the discipline, endurance and mental focus required in both practices. The monks are featured in their traditional robes while wearing PUMA NITRO™ Deviate PURE shoes, creating a visual contrast between the centuries-old setting and contemporary running culture.
Shot at the 15th-century Tibetan Buddhist monastery, the campaign comprises six frames showing the monks moving through the monastery’s pathways and gathering against the Ladakh landscape. The first hero visual has been released across social media.
The campaign is part of PUMA India’s three-year association with the Ladakh Marathon, where it is the Exclusive Sportswear Partner. The brand will provide Race Day Tees across marathon categories, while participants in the 122-kilometre Silk Route Ultra will receive additional performance gear including jackets, arm sleeves, thermals, beanies and caps.
Ramprasad Sridharan, Managing Director, PUMA India, said, “As a sports brand, we have seen that movement and meditation may take different forms- but they can often lead to the same place: a state of complete focus and presence. Ladakh is an incredibly special race, and over our three-year association with the Ladakh Marathon, we have experienced first-hand the mental resolve it demands. As a sport brand heavily invested in growing the running ecosystem, we wanted to capture the less visible side of running — the mindset that takes over when the miles fall away and everything else fades out. ‘Meditation in Motion’ was born from this thought. Working closely with the Ladakh Marathon team and the Buddhist Monks of Leh, our team conceived and shot the campaign entirely in-house, resulting in one of the most evocative and meaningful pieces of work we have created at PUMA India.”
Chewang Motup Goba, Founder and Race Director, Ladakh Marathon, said, “Running in Ladakh teaches you that you cannot fight the mountain, you have to understand it and embrace it. The altitude, the cold, the wind, the terrain, they all become part of the experience. That is where the connection with meditation becomes so interesting. You learn to quiet the mind, stay present and keep moving, one step at a time. The Ladakh Marathon has always been about bracing yourself for the elements, but also learning to embrace them.”
The Ladakh Marathon includes the Silk Route Ultra, a 122-kilometre race that begins in the Nubra Valley at 10,700 feet and ascends to the Khardung La Pass at 17,618 feet. PUMA India’s campaign uses the setting and the race’s physical demands to frame running as an exercise in mental focus as much as physical endurance.
