Alchi monastery

The text in the following paragraphs have been borrowed from "Buddhist Architecture" - Le Huu Phuoc



Alchi is a famed and historic monastery in Ladakh constructed during the mature Phase II of the second Buddhist renaissance in the Western Himalaya; due to its miraculously preserved conditions dating back to its founding, it is extremely valuable to the study of the evolution of regional Tibetan architecture. Vajrayana iconography, and the extinct Kashmiri or Indo-Kashmiri style of Buddhist Paintings. The founder of this monastery was a Buddhist monk named sKal-Idan-shes-rab from his inscription discovered inside the Dukhang or Assembly Hall, which is undoubtedly the oldest building at the site; the discovered fourteen inscriptions in Alchi have also shed much light into the history and founders:


In the best of continents, souther Jambudvipa [India], at this spot, the hermitage of Alchi in sPu-rg-yal's Tibet, land of pure ground and high mountains, I have built a precious temple with devoted veneration! To look on the wood carvings and paintings...
composed by the Buddhist monk sKal-Idan-shes-rab[inscription 1]



His [sKal-Idam-shes-rab] birthplace is Sumda... His residence is Alchi...His lineage [clan] is 'Bro.. He built a temple as a place of meditation and study [Inscription 2]

He [skal-Idam-shes-rab] studied at Nyar-ma in Maryul [Ladakh]... he is wealthy... he built a fort and bridge [at Alchi]... in pursuance of the request to his father, he built this great vihara here at Alchi [Inscription 3]


The construction of the Sumtsek temple has been ascribed to another Buddhist monk Tshul-khrims'od, possibly the brother of sKal-Idan-shes-rab as mentioned among the inscriptions inside this temple.

That patron and monk, Tshul-khrims'od... [Inscription 6]

In the north part of Jambudvipa [India] is the Land of Snows, the country of sPu-rgyal's Tibet with its high mountains and pure ground, filled with religious practioners who possesses the Thought of Enlightenment. The patron who founded this precious tired vihara [Sumtsek] here at Alchi of Ladakh, in Lower Mar-yul of Upper Nga-ri [Western Tibet] was the teacher Tshul-khrims'od. He was of the great and aristocratic 'Bro lineage'... As the sun and the moon together ornament the sky, so did the two great 'Bro brothers' [sKal-Idan-shes-rab and Tshul-khrims'od could be brothers] [Inscription 7]


The date between 1175-1200 CE for the construction of the Dukhang and Sumstsek seems credible which is also corroborated by the styles of the murals. The Sumstek was probably erected around Jigten Gonpo's time whereas the Dukhang was a little earlier based on the style of its murals and inscriptions.

Anyhow, Drigungpa was presumbably the sect with which Alchi was associated when it was first founded; nowadays the monastery is in the custodian of the Gelugpa monks residing in the nearby Likir monastery.

The rectangular site of Alchi is bounded by a mud wall enclosing encloses the original buildings inside alongwith their sculptures and murals. The original buildings include the Dukhang and Sumstsek, the attached twin temples of Lotsawa Lhakhang and Munjusri Lhakhang, Soma Lhakhang and Chortens. The other buildings were of later additions including houses, chortens, shrines, sutra halls etc. From the inscriptions and styles of the murals, the various dates for the most important buildings at the site can be established.

Dukhang is certainly the oldest building at the site and like the other buildings, with the exception of the 3 floored Sumtsek, it has a single story with a flat roof and a parapet painted in continuous red band as in all other buildings; its wooden entry portal is elaborately carved liek the Sumtek. The interior contains a single Vairacona image inside the niche at the back while the surrounding walls and those in the courtyard are completely covered with murals of mostly Buddhist themes and a few secular ones depicting royal banquets. The most important murals are the 7 mandalas of Vairacona, Manjushri and Prajnaparamita; these are some of teh earliest painted mandalas in the western Himalaya and Tibet. The oldest extant mandala paintins in the world, which are in the scroll format, came from Chinese Mogao caves in Dunhuang and Japan dated in the 9th C. Above the door of the Dukhang is a mural of the protecting deity Mahakala as in the other buildings, all deities depicted in the Dukhang murals belong to the yoga-tantra class with Vairacona as the principal deity in the centre of the mandala.

Sumtsek is probably the most important in terms of tantric iconographies and symbolisms; it is a 3-storied temple. Its highly ornate portico, which also contains murals but much faded due to exposure, is supported by fluted timber columns and half columns or pilasters in the Indo-Kashmiri Style that faintly resemble the Greek Ionic order and also the Ajanta Columns, the triangular trussed-like pediments on the entablature; besides serving as decorative elements, also function as braces to strengthen the structure against earthquakes. The interior, which contains a large chorten of a later date in the centre, also employs the same fluted timber columns as the exterior to support the mud floors. The 3 miches on the first floor house 3 huge standing polychrome clay and 4-armed bodhisatvas wearing 5-pointed tiaras with the tallest image of Maitreya in the back, Avalokitesvara on the left, and Manjushri on the right; their heads reach all the way to the second story where openings are cut through the walls in front of their faces so they can look out to the second floor. On the first floor there are murals on Maitreya's dhoti depicting Sakyamuni's Life scenes while those on Avalokitesvara's dhoti are quasi-religious and secular scenes probably of Buddhist pilgrimage centres in Kashmir and Manjushri's dhoti contains scenes of the 84- Siddhas. The surrounding walls are murals of Akshobya, Amitabha and Manjushri as well as secular and religious personages including the royalty, celestial beings, musicians, et. The second floor is also completely filled with murals including ten mandalas of Vairacona, Aksobhya, Amitabha, Amoghasiddhi, Ratnasambhava, Vajrasattva and their various manifestations including female ones; the others depict paradises of Aksobhya, Amitabha, Amoghasiddhi and Ratnasambhava. Above Maitreya's head are murals of Sakyamuni, above Avalokiteshwara's is his multi-limbed manifestation adn above Manjushri's is the multi-limbed Prajnaparamita. The third floor has 3 mandalas of Manjushri, Sakyamuni and Prajnaparamita; the remaining murals are pictorial eulogies to the lineage of Buddhist monks, both Indian and Tibetan, who were responsible for the introduction and founding of the various Vajrayana sects in Tibet. Above the doors of each floor are murals of ferocious guardian deities with the one on the first floor depicting Mahakala, the second Yamantaka, and the third Acala; these are the dharmapala deities like the one above the entry doorway of the Dukahng. The ceiling of the top floor is constructed in teh lantern roof common in Central Asia whereas the ceilings of the lower floors are completely covered in murals of decorative patterns and non-religious themes. Thus the architectural and inconographical program at Sumtsek appear to represent a symbolic spiritual progression from the lower to the higher levels of enlightenment and the Mahayana to the Vajrayana from the lowest floor to the upper floors. The highest third floor symbolically consecrates pilgrims and Tantric initiates who have completed their spiritual journeys by ascending up the floors or literally entering different mandalas. These symbolic levels of spiritual enlightenment, as embodied in the arts and architecture and the ritualized consecration of the initiates have also been suggested for Borobodur and Kumbum; these are common vajrayana themes throughout the Buddhist world dated as early as the 8th C and certainly not unique in Alchi. Among the earliest cases of the implementation of a combined sculptural and architectural proram to portray the concept of an architectural mandala occurred in the Ellora caves in India wherein each of the 3 floors of the Ellora cave 12 had been conceived as a mandala with Bodhisattva sculptures flanking both sides of a central Buddha. This mandala arrangement would later be repeated in many western Himalaya monasteries like the Tabo Dukhang and heare in the Sumtsek of Alchi; this concept was subsequently transmitted to central Tibet where it became the imprint of Vajrayana rituals in the multi-tiered architectural mandala of Kumbum. The inscriptions at Alchi also suggest such esoteric or Tantric schemes for its buildings.

The patron and onk, Tsul-khrims'od set up these reliquaries of Body, Speech and Mind. In order to remove bodily impurities and obtain a 'human Buddha-Body', he set up Manjushri as a body-image. In order to remove vocal impurites and obtain a 'glorius' Buddha-Body, he set up Avalokitesvara as a speech-image. In order to remove mental impurities and obtain an 'absolute' Buddha-Body, he set up Maitreya as a mind image.

From the sky of the non-originated Dharmakaya [Absolute Body] the unobstructed Sambhogakaya [Celestial Body] appears like a cloud and the active Nirmanakaya [Physical Body] like incessant rain.


Manjusri was associated with Body and 'human' Buddha-Body, Avalokitesvar with Speech and 'glorious' Buddha-Body, and Maitreya with Mind and 'absolute' Buddha-Body; thus the 'hunam', 'glorious', and 'absolute' Buddha-Body can be equated respectively with Nirmanakaya (Physical Body), Sambhogakaya (Celestial Body), and Dharmakaya (Absolute Body).

Lotsawa Lhakang

This building shares a common wall with Manjushri Lhakhang as both ahve obviously been constructed about the same time and have simple porticoes. The mural-filled interior is also supported by fluted timber columns like in the Sumtsek with its central bay opens to a loft story above; in the back end is the main polychrome Sakyamuni statue. The walls contain murals of Avalokitesvara and Amitabha mandalas, Ringchen-sangpo, Lokesvara, Amitabha and Mahakala above the door while the remaining spaces are painted with repeated rows of the Thousand Buddhas theme; the iconography of the deities in these murals belong the yoga-tantra class as in the Dukhang and Sumstsek.


Manjusri Lhakhang

This chapel also has a simple entry portico like its immediate neighbor Lotsawa Lhakang; it also has a loft story projecting beyond the roof above the central bay. This bay is elevated on a high plinth and has four polychrome clay images of Manjusri on the four sides, each of which is painted in gold, white, blue and red according to their proper directions. Unfortuantely the murals have been completely ruined from rain seepage and they most likely, as one might guess have similar stylistic and iconographic contents as those in Lotsawa Lhakhang.

Soma Lhakhang
This so-called 'new' temple of a single-storied flat roof has a chorten in the centre probably added at a later time. The murals on the interior walls are filled with deities of the yoga-tantra and anutataryoga-tantra class arranged in rows, a scheme which appears more formal and rigid than the murals in other buildings; the 3 mandalas of Amitayus, Sakyamuni, and Vairacona are painted on the left wall along with Sakyamuni's life scenes, which have clearly diminished in popularity. Historic personalities liek Santaraksita and Padmasambhava are also among the figures in the murals; Mahakala is once again found above the door as a protecting deity.



The murals of the Dukhang and Sumtsek aer the acme of the Buddhist Kashmiri or Indo-Kashmiri style while the style of their sculptures has also been derived from Kashmiri bronzes; the Soma Lhakhang murals have been painted in teh international Indian Pala Style. The Lotsawa Lhakhang murals, which fuse the Kashmiri and Pala style, are believed to have been painted later than those in Soma Lhakahang. The Alchi murals are painted in several modes with slight shading and high lighting to render volumen, whithout shading using lines to define forms, or the combination of both. The first mode was characteristic of the Indian artists at Ajanta whereas the second mode was favoured by the Chinese at Mogao, above all the Alchi murals show an eclectic mixture of differnt styles rather than the predomiance or preference over any particular style. Some of the most conspicuous elements in teh Alchi murals, such as the lantern roof, mandalas, painted chortens, pearl medallions, along with the postures and dresses of many figues, are of Central Asian origins, the exaggeratedly pinched waists and mannerisms of the paired female dancers also recall the females of the Begram ivories from Afghanistan and Andhra sculptures of Amaravati and Nagarjuankonda. Possible Chinese infiltration from Mogao may also be surmised sucha s the murals of the pairs of female dancers, the acrobatic divers of the apsaras with feet swinging awkwardly backward and the thousand Buddhas theme. The use of pastiglia in the Alchi murals would subsequently be employed in the Kumbum murals in Tibet; the Alchi style might have also influenced later Indian paintinsgs after the disappearance of Buddhism in India. The plans of the Dukhang and Sumtsek with their principal image niches in the back can be traced back to the classic plan of the Indian Mahayana caves like Ajanta. A few architectural elements such as the trefoil triangular pedimetns, the Indo-Kashmiri pseudo-ionic columns, etc. also had earlier Kashmiri precursor. However, the overall forms of all Alchi buildings conform to the traditional Tibetan architecture and one must also be careful not to attribute all the woodworks to Kashmir since wood carcing is also the traditional craft of the people in the Himalayas and Tibet. Above all, the concepts of utilizing architecture as a religious instrument and medium in the process of Tantric initiation and consecration and an aid to spiritual enlightenment are the cornerstone of the Vajrayana as exemplified in the Indian Ellora caves, the Dukhang of Tabo in Spiti, the Sumtsek at Alchi and later Kumbum in Tibet.

Lhachen Palkhar [Leh Palace]

In the early fifteenth century, Dragpa Bumdey, King of Ladakh, built the first fortifications in Leh as well as a small royal residence along a mountain ridge high above the town. The king also founded three Buddhist temples, two within the old town walls, and the other by the palace on the peak of Tsemo, a nearby mountain. At the turn of the seventeenth century, Leh became a royal capital of the Himalayan Kingdom of Ladakh, which at the time ruled over most of western Tibet.


It was at this time that King Senge Namgyal built Leh Palace, also known as Lachen Palkar Palace. According to a local belief, this palace was originally to be built by his father, but it was king Singge who chose the site on a ridge (shaped like an elephant's head). The king ordered an 'important building' to be constructed at this site which could house his family, his four ministers (kalon) and sixty elders (rGanmi). The building took 3 years to complete. The king is said to have invited leading Ladakhi families to settle within the fortified town below the palace. Remnats of the city walls from that time still exist. This fortified town was built on the slope of ahill, reflecting the need at the time to preserve arable land. All over Ladakh and many parts of Tibet the earliest human settlements were built on the edge of mountains and hills, as arable land was always scarce.

The massive nine-story stone structure lies at the base of the Tsemo ridge and towers over the old town. It was designed in the Tibetan style that was later made famous by Potala Palace in Lhasa. King Senge Namgyal also constructed massive rammed earth walls around the original residential area of the old town.

A cruel tale is attached with its completion. The king in order to have his building unrivalled in the region, got the right hand of the master mason chopped off.

The palace came under a siege by the Dogras (1836 AD) and during this seige it was partially destroyed. As a result, the family moved to Stok and never shifted back, thus making the palace building redundant thereafter.

The palace is associated with Dosmoche festival. During the festival, monks from different monasteries from surrounding areas aer invited to perform rituals to promote peace and prosperity in the region. Sacred dances are also performed by the lamas of Tagthog monastery on this occassion.

Physical / Architectural Description:
The palace of Leh is an ensemble of several structures that crown the ridge of Namgyal Tsemo. Beside the main palace, the ridge comprises several structures of importance which include the palace fort of Tashi Namgyal, several religious structures, chortens and royal stables.

The main palace building is undoubtedly the finest example of palace architecture in the entire Ladakh region. It is one of the most imposing structures ever built on Ladakhi soil. The palace has 9 levels.

The lower levels have rooms for staff and servants, storage spaces for animals fodder, wood; dried meat and vegetables. The upper levels had apartments for the royal family, two small temples, a throne room, reception halls and rooms for religious purposes. In the middle of the building, at the fourth level, is a small courtyard (Katog chenmo) which was the main congregation place for any social or cultural activity.

The main entrance (also the ceremonial entrance to the palace) is at the third level and located in the north. The entrance is through a large elaborately carved wooden porch supported by 2 circular wooden columns. The characteristic of this porch is a carved wooden snow lion. The first, second and the third levels have small rooms which are mainly for housing the staff and servants. Besides there are several small stores.

The main corridor at the third level leads to a smaller courtyard on the fourth level from where one can access a small private temple for the royal family, the Duk-kar Lhakhang. This small temple is situated in the north-west corner of the palace. One enters the temple through a small porch, to go into the Lhakhang. This chamber is square in plan and has its roof supported over four rows of wooden columns (four columns in each row). There is a small clere-storey window in the middle of the roof which ventilates the interior.

From this courtyard a small staircase provides and access to the main courtyard, the Katog Chenmo, built on the fourth level. This courtyard faces east thus commanding a majestic panoramic view of the entire Leh valley. The levels above (fifth and sixth) comprise the main audience cum assembly hall (Tak Chen) and the main living quarters of the royal family. This area now is not accessible. This level is characterised by wooden balconies that jetty out of walls.

The seventh level has rooms where official ceremonies were performed. This level includes a throne room (Junga Simjung), a temple (Sangyeling Lhakhang) and the royal chamber facing east (Shar-gi simjung). The eighth level has a few rooms only whose function could not be ascertained. The ninth level again has a small temple that comprised a small room (Tse-simjung). Here worship to Gurlha divinity was performed.

The dominance of the palace structure, however, is due to its sheer stark facade that dominates the entire Leh townscape as the most prominent landmark. Its east facade is the most dramatic one whose battered wall inclines to provide adequate structural strength and has a series of balconies and windows (small rectangular slits) to break the sheer monotony of the vast surface. The side and the rear elevations are in comparison less dramatic. Still these are punctuated with balconies and windows at upper levels.

The structural system of the building is simple and typical, heavier base and a lighter top. There have been no foundation system; the building is directly resting on the granite rock beneath. The material used is neatly dressed stone having a layer of timber beam alternating every three metres or so. This creates an efficient framework of timber beams which counters any lateral movements due to an earthquake. The upper portion has neat sun baked bricks used as the wall material to provide adequate lightness and the much needed thermal insulation inside.

Decorative features:

Not much survives in the palace. perhaps the most exquisite works of art have been preserved in the fourth level Duk-kar Lhakhang, which houses a large image of Duk-kar (a thousand armed form of Tara). Sakyamuni and Padmasambhava. Besides, there are ornamental carvings done on beams and columns in the hall of audience (Tak-chen) at the fifth level, and throne room at the seventh level.

Yuma Changchubling [Rizong] Monastery

Yuma Changchubling, better known as the Rizong Monastery was built in 1829. The monastery, founded by Lama Tsultim Nima, follows the Gelukpa order and is quiet well known for its high standards of monastic disciplines. The monastery is headed by Rizong Shas Rinpoche III who was born in Matho and spent most of his initial life in this monastery.

His Holiness Rizong Rinpoche III, one of the most highly respected lamas alive today, was born in Matho in 1928 and recognised as the reincarnation of Shas Rinpoche II at 2 years old by His Holiness the 13th Dalai Lama who had predicted the circumstances of the rebirth. The Rinpoche went to Rizong Monastery at 4 years of age to study and at 17 went to Tibet to continue his studies, joining Drepung Loseling Monastery, Lhasa, in the mid-1940s. He returned to Rizong in 1959 after the Chinese occupation of Tibet then went to Dalhousie to study for his Geshes degree. He graduated, attaining the highest possible degree in 1972.

In Tibetan spiritual circles, he is regarded as a modern-day Milarepa, having lived a life of simplicity and meditation since his youth.

Two out of the three rooms in the monastery house statues of Buddha while the third one has a stupa. The painting blocks of the biography of Lama Tsultim Nima, is yet another highlight of the monastery.

The monastery is unique because it is the only one with no annual mak dance festival. The monastery believes in laying more emphasis on individual practices.
The Rizong Monastery is the only one in Ladakh which has a nunnery. The nunnery, Jelichung, is located little down the monastery.

Following sections are borrowed from "Being a Buddhist Nun: The struggle for enlightenment in the Himalayas" by Kim Gutschow

Although male monastic community at Rizong was renowned for its strict adherence to manastic discipline, it could only sustain this religious ascendancy by requiring indentured services of nuns and laypeople. Rizong monks might not eat after noon and followed strict rules of poverty, but they required nuns to labour all day on behalf of the monastery's economic enterprises.


While most Ladakhi nunneries are independent institutions not directly attached to a monastery, Julichen is subordinated to Rizong monastery. Lying in lower Ladakh, Julichen nunnery takes its name, "Great Apricots", from the rich crop of apricots that nuns process and sell on behalf of the monastery. Julichen effectively seves as the factory floor of the monastic corporation. While the nunnery sustains profane needs of subsistence, the monastery engages in sacred ritual. The nuns serve as the worker bees in the monastic hive, which is overseen by monks engaged in their ritual ministrations. Nuns work from dawn to dusk processing the monastery's vast wealth of grain, apples, apricots and wool. While the monastery soars skyward at the end of a secluded valley, far above the distractions of human livelihood, the squat and ramshackle nunnery sits amid the monastic fields and orchards.

The nuns' quarters are bursting with odd heaps of barley sacks, drying apricots, woolen homespon waiting to be dyed, abandoned looms and plowshares in various states of disrepair. Nuns spend mos of their waking hours working or cooking for the monastic estate, while living in rooms bereft of religous images.


The most common problems that nuns complained of were a lack of residential or assembly space, lack of teachers and too little ritual training. Finally, there was the problem of no permanent endowments, which forced most nuns to work as domestic or wage labourers rather than devoting themselves to spiritual study. The nuns gradually began to express a desire for more study and less domestic drudgery.

Dr Tsering Palmo was the first Ladakhi nun to be trained as a Tibetan medical doctor. Born at Matho Village, 15kms from Leh (the capital city of Ladakh) she graduated from the Tibetan Medical and Astro Institute, Dharamsala, in 1993. Upon returning to Ladakh ,in 1994, as a medical practitioner, Dr. Palmo learned of the miserable conditions of the nuns and felt emphathetic towards them.

Intially Palmo encountered considerable resistance from laypeople and local monks. Some laypeople complained that nuns were no longer available for domestic chores. There was also the pragmatists who said that withdrawing nuns for rural areas already short of labour would be disastrous. Some monks thought that she was crazy to educate "illiterate" nuns who would just be corrupted by coming to Leh or over-educated for life in the rural nunneries. Lastly, the nuns themselves thought that she was mocking them when she described the advanced philosophical training they should receive. Palmo's biggest complaint was that people refused to take her seriously. She suspected that they saw her as a newly ordained imposter with little concept of monastic life in Ladakh after her extensive sojourn among the Tibetans. Many who were sympathetic to Palmo's message were fearful of openly subverting the privileges of monks. Palmo listened to their complaints and refuted them as best as she could. She carried on day after day, even when people were laughing at her. Recalling the vow of the Matho princess she had once played so many years ago, she decided she would dedicate whatever merit she had earned towards the nuns and happily die for her cause.

Overcoming the subtle opposition of Rizong monks, Palmo expanded the nunnery and quintupled its membership by 1999. With the permission of the abbot of Rizong and the assistance of local nuns, foreigners and wage laborers, she began to construct a new nunnery complex. When Palmo and her companions first arrived in Rizong, the local monks and villagers made fun fo them, joking "they have come as tourists and they will leave after a few months". After a few years, they had built 11 residential cells, 4 teaching rooms, a meditaion hall, a toilet and a conference hall. The construction was interrupted for fund-raising and the ordination of several new nuns, all of whom were secondary-school graduates.

These highly eduacated and outspoken new young recruits had little desire to perform menial tasks like the ones their elders continued to do faithfully. As a result, the community of nuns is split. The younger recruits have adopted a religious curriculum of meditation, Tibetan and Philosoply while the elders continue to slave on the monastic estates.

The Rizong monks initially blocked Palmo's plan to turn Rizong into a training institute for Ladakhi nuns, so Palmo found a building in Leh to house her new Foundation, the LNA. Palmo's Ladakh Nuns Association, established in 1996, spearheaded a number of projects that increased eduction, visibility and material status of nuns in Ladakh.

When the highest-living Tibetan Buddhist authority spoke out on behalf of women, Ladakhi people finally took note. Although the Dalai Lama's office had ignored Palmo's numerous requests for a public meeting, he accepted her invitation to give a public talk on women during his 1998 visit. His Holiness spoke to a thronged audience about how men and women have an equal capacity for enlightment. Local attitudes toward nuns shifted noticeably after the local media picked up the Dalai Lama's speech.

Palmo has begun to build her institue with foreign funding. She envisions a place where nuns can attend teachings or workshops and train to work in a number of fields - as maternal health workers, traditional doctors, painters, tailors or handicrafts experts. She wants the nunneries to become self-sufficient enterprises as well as educational institutes.

A pilot school begun at Timosgam has begun to offer the standard Buddhist curriculum to young nuns and vilalge girls. Those who graduate from CIBS can become teachers throughout Ladakh, Zangskar and Nubra. The best and brightest students from Ladakhi nunneries have been sent to Tibetan institues in India in Dharamsala, Mungood, Darjeeling and Varanasi where they are studying philosophy, Buddhist studies and Tibetan medicine.

Likir Monastery

The geo-political landscape during 15th C was generally marked by bitter struggle for control of land. Monasteries in Tibet and Ladakh region controlled and owned large tracts of land and thereby the agricultural produce. Conflicts with rival sects of monasteries for political and material control were pretty common. They had to protect the inhabitants and the wealth from rival attacks.

Monasteries that flourished during this period evolved as small fortresses perched strategically on hills, utilising the terrain and reinforcing it with thick peripheral walls to form a protected inner core.

Monasteries like Likir played a very important socio-cultural and political decision making process during the 14th C. The monstery is located on top of a hill beside the valley of River Indus and has agricultural fields at the lower level while the monastery complex occupies the high grounds.

Buddhism revolves around the teachings of Lord Buddha and the Lamas of the past also hold very important position in the mythology and general beliefs system. The centrality in source of religious beliefs is reflected in the overall arrangement of the monastery complex.

The monastery complex contains the main temple and the assembly hall at the highest plateau of the hill, followed by the monks' quarters, kitchen and dining space. The village houses are at the lower slope. The main complex has narrow entry and exit points and has shear wall surrounding its periphery results in creation of a protected fort like complex

Likir means “The Naga – Encircled”. The Gompa represents the bodies of two great serpent spirits [Naga-rajas] Nanda and Taksako. It is believed to be associated with the Ka-dam-pa order. The gompa was refounded in the 15th C as a Ge-lugs-pa institution. Lama Duwang Chosje established the monastery belonging to the Gelugpa [Yellow Hat] sect of Tibetan Buddhism in 1605 under the command of 5th king of Ladakh Lhachen Gylapo. The present buildings of the gompa had to be reconstructed during the 18th C in the wake of a fire which destroyed the earlier structure.

Likir enjoys a special status as a brother of His Highness Dalai Lama happens to be its head Lama who visits the gompa on important pujas.

The monastery also houses a protective deity, located in the interior, with a golden armor. There are two Dukhangs (Assembly halls) inside the monastery, one of them relatively new.

The main Du-kahng contains two chortens, Clay Images of three Buddhas - "Marme Zat" (past), "Sakyamuni" (present) and "Maitreya" (Future), Tsong-kha-pa with his two disciples. It is also equipped with wooden racks of volumes of scriptures.

Another newly built Du-khang contains an image of 1000 arms and 11 headed Avalokiteshwara and some new paintains on the side walls representing benevolent Bodhisattvas and 26 Arhats.

The Gon-khang houses a statue of "Tse-Ta-Pa", the wrathful protector. Additionally, the impressive murals of "Yamantaka" and "Mahakala" too adorn the Gon-khang.

Within the old Dukhang are the statues of Bodhisattva (Lord of everything you see), Amitabha (Buddha of the West), Sakyamuni (the historical Buddha), Maitreya (the Future Buddha or Buddha of Compassion) and Tsong-kha-pa (founder of the Yellow Sect-hat).

Hemis Gompa

Cradled in a beautiful valley and surrounded by streams is the 17C Hemis monastery below the famous cave of Gotsangpa and the Gotsang retreat center.

The monastery holds the distinction of being the biggest as well as the wealthiest monastery of Ladakh. Since the monastery was built hidden in a valley, it was never found by invaders. Also, the farmers of Hemis give a part of their harvest to the monastery.

The monastery is divided into two parts - assembly hall and the main temple (Tshogkhang). The historic temple Du-Khang houses the throne of the Rinpoche and the other historic temple Tshogs-Khang has a huge guilded statue of the Sakyamuni Buddha decorated with semi precious stones. The balcony is well garnished with fresco pictures.

The monastery belongs to Drukpa Lineage or the Dragon Order of Mahayana Buddhism. His Holiness the Gyalwang Drukpa [conferred with Bharat Jyoti Award] is the supreme spiritual head. Gyalwa Gotsangpa Gonpo Dorje, one of the most celebrated yogis in the Himalayas, came to Ladakh in the 13th C and established the Drukpa lineage.

The monastery is an architectural delight, constructed during the period of Sengge Namgyal. It treasures a beautiful copper gilt idol of Lord Buddha, sacred thankas, gold and silver stupas and several other religious objects.

Hemis has more than 200 branches (monasteries) in the Himalayas and more than 1,000 monks under its care. It is an important living monument and heritage of Himalayas and its people. The monastery contains the richest collection of ancient relics.

The huge courtyard is the venue for annual Hemis Festival dedicated to Guru Padmasambhava, the founder of Tantric Buddhism in Tibet, and marks his birth anniversary. The ‘Thangka’ or sacred tapestry depecting Guru Padmasambhava is decorated with pearls and is displayed in Hemis festival once in every 12 years. It is said to bestow good health and spiritual strength. The sacred mask dance performed at the monastery is the main highlight of the Hemis Festival.

Padmasanbhava [the lotus-born] better known as Guru Rinpoche(precious guru) or Lopon Rinpoche or simply, Padum in Tibet was born into a Brahmin family of N-W India in the kingdom of Oddiyaana [modern day swat valley in Pakistan].

Considered as an emanation of Amitava Buddha and venerated as 'Second Buddha, he is said to have practiced tantric rituals. He hid a number of religious treasures including the Bardo Thodol [Tibetan Book of the Dead] in lakes, caves, fields and forests of the Himalayan region.


"His two eyes are wide open in a piercing gaze. On his body he wears a white vajra undergarment and, on top of this, in layers, a red robe, a dark blue mantrayana tunic, a red monastic shawl decorated with a golden flower pattern, and a maroon cloak of silk brocade. He has one face and two hands. In his right hand, he holds a five-pronged vajra at his heart; and in his left, which rests in the gesture of equanimity, he holds a skull-cup in the centre of which is a vase of longevity filled with the nectar of deathless wisdom. Cradled in his left arm is a three-pointed khatvanga representing the consort Mandarava. On his head, he wears a five-petalled lotus hat. Wrathful and smiling, he blazes magnificently with the splendour of the major and minor marks. He is seated with his two feet in the royal posture."
-- Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo


The three points of the trident represent the essence, nature and compassionate energy (ngowo, rangshyin and tukjé). Below these three prongs are three severed heads, dry, fresh and rotten, symbolizing the three kayas.