MONASTERIES  IN LADAKH

Thak Thok Gompa
Thak Thok gompa shelters a cave in which the apostle Padmasambhava is said to have meditated during his epic eight-century journey to Tibet. Blackened over the years by sticky butter-lamp and incense smoke, ... More detail >>

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Shanti Stupa
A relatively new addition to the rocky skyline around Leh is the toothpaste white Shanti Stupa above Changspa village, 3km west of the bazaar.  More detail >>

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Mulbekh Monastery
Mulbek Gompa (monastery) dominates the valley. It is easy to see why in bygone times this site served as an outpost to guard the caravan route. Like all Buddhists monasteries it is adorned by frescoes and statues.  More detail >>

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Sumur Monastery
Sumur is home to the Nubbra valley's most important monastery, Samstem Ling Gompa, forty minutes' walk behind the village  More detail >>

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Phyang Gompa
A mere 17km west of Leh, phyang gompa looms large at the head of a secluded side-valley that tapers north into the Ladakh Range from the Srinagar highway. It was built by Tashi Namgyal in the later half of the 16th century A.D.and looks like a place from a distance.  More detail >>

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Alchi Gompa
Alchi is the most impressive of them all the least remote and the only one you don't need  a special permit to visit nestled beside a bend in the milky blu Rive Indus amid some dramatic scenery  More detail >>

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Stongdey
The monastery of Stongdey lies 18 kms. To the north of Padum, on the road leading to Zangla. An old foundation associated with the Tibetan Yogi, Marpa, Stongdey is now the second largest monastic establishment of Zanskar, inhabited by the resident community of about 60 Gelukpa monks.  More detail >>

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Leh Palace
Lording it over the old town from the top of a craggy granite ridge is the derelict palace of the sixteenth-century ruler sengge namgyal. A scaled-down version of the potala in Lhasa, it is a textbook example of medieval Tibetan architecture,  More detail >>

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Sankar Gompa 
he monastery, a small under Gompa of Spitok, is staffed by twenty monks, and is the official residence of the Kushok Bakul, Ladakh's head of the Gelug-pa sect. Appropriately for such a high-ranking 'Rinpoche', his glass-fronted penthouse enjoys pride of lace on top of the main building, crowned with a golden spire and a "Dharma Chakra" flanked by two deer, symbolizing the Buddha's first sermon in Sarnath.  More detail >>

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Stoke Palace
Stok gompa twenty minutes’ walk up the valley, boasts a collection of dance- drama masks, and some lurid modern murals painted by lamas from Lingshet gompa in Zanskar, the artists responsible for the Maitreya statue in Tiske. More detail >>

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Shey Monastery
SHEY, 15 Kms upstream from Leh. The palace is belived to have been the seat of power of the pre-Tibetan kings.A 7.5 metre high copper statue of Buddha,plated with gold,and the largest of its kind,is installed in the palace  More detail >>

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Spitok Monastery
Spitok gompa rising incongruously from the end of the airport runway, makes a good half- day foray from Leh, 10km up the north side of the Indus valley.  More detail >>

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Likir Monastery
Most visitors to Likkir continue on an excellent two-day hike from here to Temisgang via Rhidzong, which provides a good and comparatively gentle introduction to trekking in Ladakh. More detail >>

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Lamayuru Monastery
The first Lamayuru monastery was built under Rinchen Zangbo at the end of the 10th century, under orders from the king of Ladakh , who altogether had 108 Gompas More detail >>

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Phugtal Gompa
The Phugthal complex spills out of the mouth of a huge cave high up in the sheer mountain face of a lateral gorge through which a major tributary of the southern Lungnak River More detail >>

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Zongkhul Monastery
Zongkhul falls on the Padum-Kishtwar trekking trail, just before the ascent of Omasi-la Pass begins. Situated like a Swallow’s nest on the rock face of the Ating George, the monastery is associated by legend with the famous Indian Yogi, Naropa More detail >>