Shey Palace

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 14:02:50 +0000

Located 15km to the south of Leh on the Leh-Manali highway is the Shey Palace. The 3 storey palace is perched on a hillock overlooking the beautiful Shey village. 'Shey' loosely translated into Ladakhi means mirror (or maybe reflection) and it is the reflection of the palace on the still waters of the lake below which gave origins to its name.

Shey used to be the capital and the home for Ladakh's royal family up until the Dogra conquests forced the royal family to be stripped of their power and move to Stok. The Shey palace is situated at a strategic location overlooking the entire heartland of Ladakh. This importance of the location is attested by the numerous chortens that are scattered around the village, particularly near the barren plains north of the palace complex.

There are 2 statues of Sakyamuni in the palace complex. The first one located inside palace is made of gilded copper and is about 3 storeys tall. The other statue is in a temple outside the palace, nearby a group of white chortens. This seated statue of Sakyamuni is about 7.5m tall, made of copper and brass plated with gold and studded with gems and other precious stones.

Hemis Monastery

Sat, 16 Apr 2011 09:52:34 +0000

Nestled deep in a narrow valley, the Hemis monastery is the largest and the most important monastic institution in Ladakh. Hemis has more than 200 branch monasteries around the Himalayas and over 1000 monks under its care. It is an important living monument to the heritage of the Himalayas and its people.

The monastery belongs to the Drukpa lineage or the Dragon Order of Mahayana Buddhism. The main driving force behind the creation of this Monastery was a sage called Taktsang Repa (Staktsang Raspa in Ladakhi), popularly known as "Taktsand Sambunath". He setup the monastery in the 1630s under the aegis of King Sengge Namgyal. Taktsang Repa is responsible for popularizing the Drukpa order of Tibetan Buddhism in Ladakh. He and his successive reincarnations became the spiritual gurus of Ladakhi Kings and their people.

Sights from leh/ladakh/india

Shey Palace

Hemis Monastery