One party won entry to the U.S. from Nepal by visa lottery. The other followed his artistic muse to India’s rich colors. Both lay the artistry and scenery of each exotic land at our feet, like a holy offering.

The illustrious and well-established Weston Gallery recently hosted an opening reception for a new photography exhibition, Painted Shadows: Images of India. Jeffrey Becom last showed at the compact space two years ago with photographs from Guatemala, which came after 12 years of living, writing and working in Central and South America. After that stint, he asked himself what was next. The answer: India.

He hired a driver who took him to “one of the poorest areas,” Madhya Pradesh near Bhopal; then to Rajasthan, populated by 16th-century fortresses; and Varanasi, home to one of the oldest continuous civilizations.

“It’s the center of the holy Hindu world, [on] the River Ganges,” Becom says. “Water buffalo roaming free, chanting monks, incense, flowers. People get cremated there; it’s completely nuts.”

One photograph from his four-month India excursion stands out as the flagship of Painted Shadows’ aesthetic: blocked symmetrically and vibrantly colored, “Wedding Wall, Naoli, Madhya Pradesh, India 2008” hones in on a woman dressed in a red sari in the doorway of a blue, clay-and-brick dwelling splattered with red pigment. The scene looks timelessly, soundlessly still.

“I work methodically slow,” Becom says. “I don’t take hundreds of photos. I don’t do portraits because [the viewer] concentrates on the face.” Color is the subject of his meticulous, patient works.

“I don’t pose people. I’ll wait for days for the right light, the right moment.” Sometimes he’s had to hide in shadows to become inconspicuous, like a spy.

Becom is a former architect, and his photographs are, essentially, buildings in the contrasts and permutations of a color palette. “People say that my photos look like paintings and my paintings look like photos,” he says.

Becom is also showing a historically significant series of photographs at the Carmel Mission, portraying the missions founded by Father Junipero Serra in Mexico that pre-date California’s.

Over in Monterey, a younger outpost of art from the same region has been open for weeks (rather than decades). Himalayan Thangka Art Gallery, home to the elaborate, colorful, watercolor-on-cotton Buddhist scroll paintings called thangka, celebrates a grand opening this Friday and an open house on Saturday.

At once sumptuous and utilitarian, thangka allowed monks to roll them up to carry to different monasteries, where they serve as teaching tools on the life of Buddha and other deities, Buddhist principles and the path of enlightenment. The art form originated in Nepal and neighboring China, India and Tibet.

“[In Nepal] it’s tradition for kids to follow their parents’ trade,” says Santoshi Lama, daughter of the gallery’s resident master Pratap Lama and the fourth generation in her family to take up the calling. The work can take months for several artists to create, and the art form is only correctly performed after rigorous instruction and understanding of Buddhist principles. The paintings’ colorful cast of deities, people, earthly elements, animals and symbols are arranged in strict geometric relation to each other in a narrative that follows Buddhist teaching, and “framed” by decorative and protective tapestries made by artisan families in Nepal.

“Some of the pieces are older than me,” says Santoshi, sipping green tea. Her father, who worships at an altar to Buddha in the gallery, explains that Buddhism shares some of the same deities as Hinduism, among other things: He demonstrates the “om” chant from both religions, a rumbling, guttural humming that ends with an incantation.

In the elaborate “The Way of Life” thangka, a dark elephant (representing the unenlightened mind), a mischievous monkey, a rabbit and a monk travel on a trail that starts at a temple on earth and ascends toward heaven, or nirvana. It’s a serial painting that tells a story – in this case describing karma and the path of enlightenment – not unlike the early Renaissance works of Christiandom.

The paintings – balanced and gorgeous from afar, meticulous and stylistic up close – are radiant.

Aside from carrying on her family’s artistic tradition, Santoshi is poised to blend it into her more recent ventures: She has illustrated a children’s book, mentors next door at Youth Arts Collective, creates artistic signage for Trader Joe’s in Pacific Grove, and wants to turn “The Way of Life” painting into an animated short.

HIMALAYAN THANGKA ART GALLERY has a grand opening 5-8pm Friday, Dec. 11, and an open house noon-5pm Saturday, Dec. 12, at 480 Calle Principal, Monterey. 644-9086, 521-6420.

PAINTED SHADOWS shows 10:30am-5pm daily at Weston Gallery, Sixth and Dolores, Carmel. 624-4453, www.westongallery.com