Mesmerizing Ladakh – Part 4: Thiksey Monastery

Thiksey Gompa or Thiksay Monastery is located on top of a hill in Thiksey village approximately 19 km from east of Leh. Affiliated with the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism this monastery resembles the Potala Place in Lhasa, Tibet. This monastery is the largest in central Ladakh which contains a separate buildings for female nuns. The monastery is located at an altitude of 11,800 meters. This twelve storey complex houses many items of Budhist art such as stupas, statues, thangkas, wall painting and swords.

One of the main attractions is the Maitreya Temple installed to commemorate the visit of the 14th Dalai Lama to the monastery in 1970. It contains a 15 meters high statue of Maitreya, the largest such statue in Ladakh covering two storeys of the building.

A temple is also dedicated to goddess Tara with her 21 images placed in glass covered wooden shelves.

Thiksey Monastery - view from the road — Thiksey Monastery – view from the road

Thiksey Monastery - a closer view — Thiksey Monastery – a closer view

Thiksey Monastery - The ornamental gate — Thiksey Monastery – The ornamental gate

The monk issuing the entry tickets to the monastery

Stunning views from top of the monastery

There was a movie shoot going on in the premises of the monastery during our visit.

The monks watching the movie shoot from the first floor

8 thoughts on “Mesmerizing Ladakh – Part 4: Thiksey Monastery”

Wow – what a beautiful monastery.

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maverickonthemove says:

October 22, 2016 at 3:56 am

Thanks…

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Beautiful captures! Thank you so much for the post!

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I did not realize these photos are large format. I went back through and looked at some of the photos again. You provided us with a great photo trip! Thanks for sharing.

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