Gompas perched on lone rocks and craggy mountain-faces give Ladakh its unique flavour — and the festivals held within them, its rhythm.
The head lama of a Ladakhi monastery is called a ‘kushak’, meaning reincarnation. Most gompas were built to perch precariously above their villages — half fortress, half sanctuary.
The largest monastery in Ladakh, 45 km south of Leh, belonging to the red-sect Brokpa. Its annual festival, commemorating Guru Padmasambhava, fills the courtyard with masked dance for two days each June–July.
A miniature Potala rising nine storeys above the town, built for King Singge Namgyal. Home to the royal family until their exile to Stok in the 1830s; now dilapidated, but commanding.
About 20 km from Leh, a twelve-storey complex crowning its hill — among the finest examples of Ladakhi architecture, with a 15-metre seated Buddha and dawn prayers open to visitors.
Legend holds Lamayuru once lay beneath a lake, blessed by a lama until the waters receded to leave ground for the gompa. Its moonscape setting is unmatched for sheer spectacle.
Once the royal residence, 15 km south of Leh, home to a 12-ft copper-gilt Shakyamuni Buddha built by Deldan Namgyal as a memorial to his father, King Singge Namgyal.
On the banks of the Indus, its walls hold thousands of miniature Buddha images. No longer an active religious centre, it is cared for today by monks from Likir.
Built by a Japanese order and opened by the Dalai Lama, 3 km from Fort Road — its terrace offers one of the finest panoramas over Leh and the Indus valley.
Known as Klu-Khyil, “water spirits,” 52 km from Leh. Rededicated to the Gelukpa order in the 15th century, it holds huge clay Buddha images and a fine collection of thangkas.
Many of the great gompa festivals take place in winter, a relatively idle season. Lamas in colourful robes and masks perform ‘Chhams’ — ritual dance-dramas dramatising the progress of the soul and the triumph of good over evil — directed by the monastery's Chham-spon, its mystic dance master.
The largest and most famous is Hemis, held in late June or early July. Lamayuru, Phyang, Tak-thok and Karsha (Zanskar) hold their festivals through the summer; Spituk, Stok, Thiksey, Chemrey and Matho celebrate through winter. Likir and Deskit time theirs to Dosmochhe, the “festival of the scapegoat,” one of Ladakh's two New Year celebrations alongside Losar.
Archery is Ladakh's ancestral sport. Village teams compete through the summer to the music of surna and daman (oboe and drum), the crowds in their brightest brocade and heaviest jewellery — chang, the local barley beer, flowing freely but rarely to rowdiness.
Polo, indigenous to the western Himalaya, is thought to have been introduced to Ladakh in the mid-17th century by King Singge Namgyal, whose mother was a Balti princess. Six players a side, an hour of play, hardy Zanskari ponies — and unlike the international game, a sport for everyone, not only the wealthy.
Butter-tea churned with salt, milk and fresh butter in a decorative copper ‘gur-gur’ — Ladakhis drink thirty or forty cups a day, especially when mixed with tsampa.
The local barley beer, offered to every guest as a matter of tradition and etiquette — a host never lets a cup run less than full.
A thick noodle soup with vegetables, hearty enough to serve as a complete meal in itself.
Steamed dumplings stuffed with meat or vegetables, served with a fiery chilli sauce — alongside staples like sku, pava and tsampa.