Ladakh: Great Buddhist Monasteries

You have to hand it over to the Buddhists. For centuries they have gone about practicing and preserving their religion, not diluting its essence over generations, and continuing to command the respect and veneration of the followers of this faith. Their art and architecture has been admirable throughout - and they managed to perch their installations on sites you can barely trudge up to. Modern day builders cannot emulate these. 

When in Ladakh, you are never too far from a monastery. And no matter how hard you try, you cannot say, “You have seen one, you have seen them all.” Each is unique. The ones you must go to - in a rough decreasing order of preference.


Hemis Monastery

The most revered of them all, it sits high like a vulture’s nest. The location was identified in the 13th century by Buddhist sage Gyalwa Gotsangpa (his name means 'vulture' Got 'nest' Tsang) with the present structure been founded in the 1630s by Kushok Shambhu Nath under King Sengye Namgyal's patronage. The building may not be eye-catching but the location is. Over 500 lamas (monks) reside here.