General Information
Beyond the valley of Kashmir, on top of insurmountable mountains, lies Ladakh, the Shangri-la of the adventurous traveller.It is a land of barren rocks, a wasteland, with gompas or monasteries carved into the hill side .Magnificient status of the Buddha, art treasure and tankhas (painted scrolls) are there in plenty for the lover of art to see and enjoy.
Leh, the capital, is an oasis surrounded by mountains in horse-shoe formation and is part of remote Karakoram ranges of the Himalayas.
What to see
LEH PALACE
Looming large above town,Leh palace, is the warm tourist attraction on Ladakh’s main city , built around 1600 A.D an a granite ledges shaped like an elephant’s head .Its smaller version was built around the same time at Lhasa, Tibet, by the fifth Dalai Lama . A remnant of magnificence, the Leh Palace, dwarfed sun and a ghostly guardian by moonlight .The palace was badly damaged during the Dogra war in the last century, where their descendants live even today.
High above the palace are the even older palace-fort and the remains of the temple of Guardian Divinities, which houses a big Buddha status. Sanka Gompa or monastery, a pleasant, short walk from the town centre, has a multi-armed Avalokiteshvana, or Buddha of Compassion.
SPITOK:
8 km from Leh is the Spitok on a small hill above the Indus River; the 500 years old monastery has a prayer hall hung with richly decorated tankas and walls with bejeweled Gods and Goddesses. All this you can see all the time , but the main status of goddess Kali id demurely veiled and revealed only once a year at festival time .
Going beyond the Spitok, the road beside the Indus River leads to monasteries at virtually all turn-offs. As if to pave the way , Mantra stones line the roadside and riverbanks clear to Hemis.The largest Gompa and the farthest from on this route from Leh.Also visit Choglamsar, a Tibetan refugee camps ,which is an important centre for the study of Buddhism and manufacture of handicrafts. Particularly good ones are the woven yak-wool carpets.
STOK:
Off the main road, the suspension bridges to Stok village is covered with brightly coloured flags overhead and scattering colessings as freely as the dust over the route to the 200 year old Stok Palace .With few vestiges of its prestigious past, the palace is now the Home of the Queen of Ladakh, the king died in 1974. Four rooms are open to the public with tankas depicting various miracles of Buddha plus some other exploits. The most holy tanka is guarded by a lama who whisks away the drapes to reveal it to you. From the summit of the twilight palace, it’s a doll world below the fields studded with chortens or stupa, relics of the saintly and bridge groves against the maintain. Near the palace is another rug-weaving centre where 18 to 20 women sit in two rows taking three months to make each extricating.
SHEY AND THIKSEY
The Shey Palace is another 10 km. along the way .It was built in the 17th century and was the sumptuous summer home of the Kadakh kinfs.Inside there is a brightly coloured bejeweled gold 40-feet high Maitreya Buddha .A lama can show the 1000 more Buddhas on the walls of a area, its spire tipped in gold.
From the summit of Shey, the 12-storey Thiksey Gompa, about 3 kms away, is a breath-taking right topping hill overlooking the Indus. Built over centuries stretching back 800 years.Thiksey is a series of buildings constructed at various times and various heights. Some of the treasures include a pillars inscribed with Buddha teachings, an impressive library and a status of Maietreya Buddha. You can see religious ceremonies being performed here .On festivals days monks have spirited archery contest in the compound behind Skai-zang chamba, the tea shop below the Gompa.
HEMIS
From Thisey you can see Stakna. Off the main road, it is not often visited but is one of Ladakh's oldest monasteries has some notable tenth century tanks. Matho, also off the beaten path in a side valley, dates from ancient time and is protected by Orchas chosen every few years.
Few many travelers, Hemis, 45 kms from Leh, is the highlights of their visit to Ladakh and probably best known for its summer festival. Three day festival includes mask dances. The 400 years old Hemis is an impressive sight. In the dimly-lit halls one golden deities decorated with precious stones, their little golden bows filled in front of them,a
turquoise encrusted stupa and a large library .There is also a big tanka that is
shown only once every 11 years (next time in 2002).The walls inside have paintings of Buddha and the deities of Tibetan Buddhism.
OTHER MONASTRIES
Off the Leh-Srinagar road are many monasteries .Among the most worth while are Lamayarn, 135 kms from Leh, which dares from the 10th century and has caves in the backs apart from decorative out inside.Rizong,75 km. from the Leh near Khalsi is the site of a tulichen monastery and a nunnery.Closeby Alchi near Saspul has remarkable paintings and a huge Buddha idol. Over 10 centuries old, Alchi is on the lowlands rather than on a hilltop. Not far away is Liki, a monastery and school complex.
TREAK AND POLO
In Leh, you can watch polo as it was played 800 years ago by invading Muslims- with fierceness. Ancient villages, monasteries and mightily mountains provide a dramatic backdrop. Treks can be long and hard, as in the Leh-Zanskar-Kishtwan Manali (or Leh-Kargil via Surn Valley or shoot to the Hemis monastery for instance .But the best time is summer, around July, when the valley is green In August the country starts becoming yellow and by September, when harvest begins the valley is almost ochre.
Climbing, rafting and fishing are also fast catching up .A rafting trip from Hemis downstream to Choglamasar can last two days and be exhilarating .For anglers, snow trout is found in abundance in Shey .Fishing permits can be obtain from the District Forest Officer at Leh.
Excursions
Standandard Sightseeing Tours:
The oldest holy site in Ladakh, Lamayuru was once a lake .It was blessed by a lama after which as, legend goes, the water of the receded upto the mountains leaving place for the monastry to be built .It is also the “free zone ” of Ladakh since not even a criminal can be apprehended in this place. Now mostly in ruins, only the main hall exists today and houses numerous “tankhas”.
70 kms. From Leh, on the banks of river Indus is Alchi Gompa dating back to a thousand years. One of its walls features thousands of miniature-sized pictures of the Buddha. Three large sized images made of clay and painted brightly are its focal attractions. No longer an active religious centre, it is looked after by minks from the Likir monastery and is its “Thunder Gompa”.
Full day excursion to Alchi and Likir .After breakfast, drive to Alchi to see the 12th century Gompa has exquisite paintings and ‘tankhas’. There are status of Lord Buddha and Avalokiteshwara in the Gompa .Also visit Likir before returnng to Leh.
Full day excursion to Shey, Thiksey and Hemis. Shay was once the residence of the royal family and is famous for its 7.5 meter high gilded statue of Buddha .Thiksey is one of the largest and most impressive monastery famous for its various images, stupas and exquisite wall paintings.It also houses a two-stroeyed status of Buddha .Hemis, the biggest and richest of them all is well known for its festival in summer.
Walk to the Shankar Gompa which was innumerable statues of pure gold and a number of interesting paintings .Later walk to the Leh Palace and on the way back visit the cottage industries emporium. Drive to the Spituk Monastery (5 miles ) which contains a large collection of Tankhas and old masks & later visit the Shankar Gompa. Proceed to Visit the Phyiang Monastery before returning to the hotel. 40 kms from Leh, Hemis is one of the richest, biggest and most famous Gompa in Ladaks .Its popularity stems from the major annual festival held during summer in honour of their Guru Padma Sambhava’s birth anniversary. Built during 1630, it has numerous “tankhas”, silver “chortens” studded with precious and semi precious and semi precious stones various images of Buddha. Of its many frescoes, the most famous is the “Wheel of Life”.
