You can have some more exploratory trips out of Leh to enjoy the surrounding landscape in its wild and barren glory, and enjoy the gompas with their fluttering flags, dotted atop high plateaux, and see the life of the lamas, the devotee monks who are in a world of their own, a world of prayer and isolation. There must be close to 5,000 lamas in Ladakh.
At a distance of 8 km from Leh, standing majestically on top of a hillock and overlooking the Indus Valley, lies the fifteenth century Spituk gompa.that houses a collection of ancient masks, antique arms, icons and Budhist paintings on cloth, or’ thangkas’. Higher up the hill is the Mahakal Temple, containing the shrine of Vajrabhairava. Fifteen kilometers south of Leh, is the Shey gompa , which, until the 16th century, was the royal residence. This Palace Monastery has the largest statue of Maitreya Buddha (the Buddha to come) in Ladakh., a fascination work of art made out of gold and gilded copper sheets with blue hair, standing 17.5 m high. Twenty kilometers further is Thikse gompa, an iimposing 12-storey monastery complex with numerous stupas, statues, thangkas, wall paintings, swords and a large pillar engraved with the Buddha's teachings It belongs to the Gelukpa order.
One of the largest gompas in Ladakh is Hemis, forty five kilometers south of Leh. Built in 1630, it belongs to the red sect, Brokpa. It is also known as Chang Chub Sam Ling or “the lone place of the compassionate person.”
More notable monastries to visit are Matho gompa, the 11th century Alchi gompa, the Phyang gompa of the Brokpa sect, and Stakna gompa., the Lamayuru monastery, and the Likir monastry In all these places, you will experience the tranquility of Budhist chanting and prayer, and get to see some beautiful religious ‘thangka’ artworks and mandala paintings. The nineteenth century Stok gompa is where the last king of Ladakh died in 1974. It has a museum that houses a unique collection of royal ornaments, and traditional clothing, along with exquisite thangkas representing the life of the Sakya Muni Buddha. The Bagso gompa, 40 km downstream from Leh has the history of the powerful Namgyal family, where, in 1689, invading Mongol and Tibetan armies were held in check over a three-year-long siege
Some of the scenery at these gompas can be awesome. Precariously perched atop a 200-meter-high crag, the Mulbekh gompa has an imposing rock carving of the future Buddha. On the other end of the valley is a phallus-shaped rock with a monastery at its base.
About 45 km from Leh, the Chernry gompa is situated in a picturesque valley leading to Changia. It has a unique collection of scriptures with title pages in sterling silver and the text in gold letters.
Fifty km east of Leh, is the renowned Thak Thog gompa, the only monastery belonging to the Nying-ma-pa order. The new monastery is built on ground level and also has seats the for the Dalai Lama and Taklung Rinpoche (the incarnate Lama of the monastery). Nearby, the town of Choglamsar is an important center for Tibetan Buddhism and the study of Tibetan study and culture. |
