When you are in Ladakh, you will be greeted by the the cold desert in its myriad formations. You get mesmerised by its valleys, the snow-caped peaks, the sand dunes, wind weathered mountains forming unusual shapes, colossal granite walls et al...... When you are enjoying such a brilliant landscape, you will suddenly stop and get awed at some lovely structures ensconced into the mountains. They are Gompas or Buddhist monasteries.
One of the charms of travelling in Ladakh are the numerous monasteries spread across the barren landscape. Perched on the mountains, they add colourful contrast to the landscape around. Be it the large monasteries like Tiksay or Deskit or the smaller ones, these places of worship are like lovely little gems in the arid landscape. They are aesthetically pleasing, rustic and colourful.
During our recent trip we thought of capturing many of them. We don't know the names of many of them but looking at them, we assure you that you don't need any more information to enjoy the beauty of their brilliance!
Here we go......
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| We saw this small gompa on Srinagar - Leh highway near the village Budhakarbu. Perched on a steep hill. |
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| This was again on Srinagar - Leh road. The location was beautiful |
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| The Gompa @ Lamayuru. One of the largest in Ladakh, the Monastery located on a hill commands a lovely sight of the moonscape surrounding it. |
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| Namgyal Tsemo Gompa - Located behind the Leh palace in city in the mountain, it still commands brilliance of Isolation |
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| Gompa @ Rumtse village. Perched on a small hill in a lovely village of Rumtse on Leh - Manali road |
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| Stakna Gompa on Leh - Manali road. On a hill on the banks of Indus river |
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| Gompa @ Deskit. One of the largest monastery in Nubra valley |
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| Shanti Stupa and Monastery as seen from Khardung La road |
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| A Gompa in Leh city. We clicked this on our way to Khardung La. |
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| A monastery located on the bank of Indus on a small hill on Leh - Nimmu road |
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| Not sure of the name. A large monastery which can be seen on the horizon behind Stakna on Leh - Manali road. |
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| Thiksey Monastery - One of the largest in Ladakh. |
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| Charming monastery @ Basgo. Located in the wind weathered hills on Leh - Srinagar highway |
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| We reserved the best for these last ones. Isn't this amazing? The monastery in Phuktal which is 6 hours drive from Kargil and then a day trek to the monastery. Thanks to Neo Parekh for this lovely picture |
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| And this one too......Can you locate the Monastery? This is Tacha Gompa. Atop a steep hill, we saw this during our Markha valley trek. Our guide asked whether we would like to climb to it. It looked steep and we were tired. We were awestruck at the location. |
We have still not listed many which we haven't been to like the ones in Alchi and Hemis. Some of the Gompas are located in such places that you can only trek to them.
Next time when you are in Ladakh, reserve one day for Gompa hopping. It is spiritually up lifting.
Thank you for sparing your time to read this post. If you are interested to know more about travelling in Ladakh, we have many posts on Ladakh titled "Ladakh Diaries". You can start with this one here.
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