Monastries In India

Jammu & Kashmir Circuit Monastery

Buddhist Gompas are many and religious tourism encourages monastery circuits covering a number of Buddhist monasteries throughout the world, particularly around the Tibetan Monasteries  situated in Spiti Valley and Ladakh circuits, where wonderful Buddhist Gompas from Geluk Pa ,  Nyingma Pa and Druk Pa sects, while in these Monasteries  Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism is propagated by the blessings of His Holiness Dalai Lama.

Monastery circuits enable tourists interact with the monks in these monasteries, while most of the tour will be by trekking , besides space for meditation and learning of Buddhist practices, organized by various tourism operators.

Buddhist Gompas ofLadakh Circuit.

LadakhMonastery Circuit encompasses several Gompas which include the following:

• Thiksey Monastery, which is of Gelug Pa order pertaining to Tibetan Buddhism, established in 15th Century,  which is considered one of the most beautiful monasteries in Ladakh circuit, where Shrines and paintings are of very adorable nature and it is one of 12 Storey Structure.
• Matho Monastery, situated on the banks of Indus River, the village Matho located at the tip of a deep gorge in the Zanskar Range and this is the only Monastry in the circuit which belongs to Sakya Pa sect.
• Hemis Monastery is one intitiated in the year 1630, belonging to the Drug Pa Order of Tibetan Buddhism, which is the biggest and large among  monasteries in the circuit.
• Likir Monastery is known for its picturesque location belonging to Gulug Pa sect of Tibetan Buddhism, which was established in 1605.
• Shey Monastery’s uniqueness comes from its  three-storey copper-coated Buddha Shakyamuni statue, commissioned in the year 1655and King DeldanNamgialconstructed it.
• Alchi Monastery is another  Buddhist monastery  and it is  known more for its structure as  monastic complex, situated in Alchi Village.
• Stakna Monastery is a  monastery of the Drugpa sect in Leh district which  was founded ChosjeJamyangPalkar of Bhutan in the late 16th century .
• PhyangMonastery,which is located 15 or 16 kilometres west of Leh, established in 1515 is unique for its frescoes collections from the earliest  royal period, and its  900 year old museum of thangkas, war implements and paintings.

• The ChemdayMonastery  whichwas founded by Lama TagsangRaschenin the early 1640s, with a Padmaasambhava statue and rare paintings as its treasure.
• The Takthok Monastery which was the abode of  MahasiddhaKungaPhuntsog and is established in Caves.

Festivals

The festivals in the Ladakh monastery circuit are also impressive and unique, such as

Matho Monastery celebrates an annual Oracle MathoNagrang Festival, for two days in the 14th and 15th days of the first month of the Tibetan calendar, when two monks would inherit Oracles in their bodies to pronounce the future of village communities for the forthcoming year

The two seasonal festivals of Shey Monastery  are another significant celebrations, the  festival held at Shey Palace on the 26th and 27th day of the first month of the Tibetan calendar and the one  called Shey Doo Lhoo celebrated to mark the beginning of the sowing season.

TikseGompa monastery celebrates the Gustor ritual, from the 17th to 19th day of the ninth month of the Tibetan calendar, when Sacred dances such as the mask dance or Cham Dance are performed .

How to Reach

Leh circuit region can be reached  by train , by traveling  upto the Jammu which has the nearest railway station, in about 734 km far.

A bus from Manali , which is in 453 km distance from Leh would be a good choice, however, the Manali - Leh road is not  open throughout the year, although one can take the bus  during  the months from mid-June to mid-October, when the road will be open.

There are air services available to  Leh  from Delhi and also from Srinagar , different airlines offering services.

JKSRTC provides bus service to Leh from Srinagar to Leh covering 700 km, sometimes taking  two days travel time, while  HRTC provides service to Leh from Manali , covering 474 km distance , which also takes about 20 hours  travel.

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