TheFreeBird
Day 8 | Monasteries in Ladakh
After the thoroughly enjoyable 7 days on the chadar trek today was a day of utmost relaxation. (If you missed out my chadar trek blog ,read it here . The most surreal nature you will ever see) With not having to carry any rucksack for 10 kms we just lazed in the morning in the warm hotel room. I wanted to go to Nubra or Tso Moriri but Susan, Prashant & Ganesh didn’t want so much action hence I booked an Innova which would take us around monasteries in Ladakh.
Hemis Monastery
First stop was Hemis monastery. Hemis is the largest monastic institution in Ladakh and has more than 200 branch monasteries in Ladakh. Enroute Hemis there are thousands of stones with carving on it.
It felt very peaceful here at Hemis.
Photography inside was not allowed. So after going around the monastery for some peaceful moments we headed to the next stop at Thikse monastery. Ladakhi roads never cease to amaze me
Thikse Monastery
Thiksey monastery is noted for its resemblance to Potala Palace in Lhasa Tibet & is the largest monastery in Central Ladakh. Overall this has 12 storeys.
The view from the top is quite astonishing.
Inside the monastery there is a Maitreya Temple which contains a 15m (49ft) statue of Maitreya & it covers almost two storeys. We were only allowed to the top storey.
I continued around the monastery enjoying the soothing silence. Susan adorned this beautiful entrance.
Next stop at Shey Palace
Shey Monastery
Shey was Ladakh’s summer capital in the past & was built in 1655 by the then King of Ladakh Deldan Namgyal. This Palace /monastery has a royal appearance.
Shey meaning mirror or reflection derived its name from the Holy fish pond which is in front of the palace. In summer when the small ponds formed by melting glacier dry up, Buddhists nuns/monks save the fish by bringing it here.
There are numerous prayer wheels from the road to the entrance of this palace suggestive of a monastery within. White chortens on the balcony add a formidable appearance to the palace.
Inside the monastery there is a giant gilded copper statue of a seated Shakyamuni Buddha. Photography was not allowed. For your eyes only. The view from the monastery made my evening wonderful.
There is also fortress atop this place but it is mostly in ruins just like my almost dead battery. We had one last stop in this monastery tour.
Stok Palace
Since we had started out late , we were behind schedule & our driver hustled us so that we could reach stok palace before it closes.
We reached late. The last palace of the King of Ladakh was already closed for visitors. Nonetheless there is a huge Buddha statue near by where we decided to end this trip.
I was back at Stok Palace after 4 months when i successfully attempted stok Kangri. Stok is the trek start point and I had my tryst with this mighty Buddha statue once again. ( Read about it here)
We headed back to the city where we did some shopping and finally had Chicken Tandoori i was craving for since long. Tonight i bid adieu to Susan & Prashant. Ganesh and myself were the only two people remaining from the original chadar trek pack. Tomorrow was the last day in this winter heaven of Ladakh and i planned to go to the frozen Pangong Tso.
Winter trip to frozen pangong turned out to be a thrilling adventure with roads under snow, heavy snowfall, skidding vehicles & army rescue. All worth it \m/
END OF PART 7
Click here to read about Frozen Pangong Lake. The journey to & fro to the lake itself was an adventure
PARTS: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
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