Lamayuru Monastery

Lamayuru stands at about 3,510 metres on a spur above the Leh to Kargil road, among the oldest monastic sites in Ladakh with parts of the complex going back to the eleventh century and a Drikung Kagyu community today. Below and around it, the ground is made of fine sediments laid down when the valley held a lake, since eroded into pale ridges, gullies and cones that have been marketed as moonland for the resemblance. The monastery holds the meditation cave associated with the Indian scholar Naropa, the Seng-ge-sgang temple attributed to the builder-monk Rinchen Zangpo, murals, and a summer masked festival. Villages of barley terrace the valley floor below the pale slopes.

History

Tradition says Lamayuru was first the foremost Bon monastery of Ladakh, its name meaning the swastika, a Bon symbol of eternity; it now belongs to the Drikung Kagyu school. Drikung history says the Indian scholar Naropa, 956-1041, made the lake that filled the valley dry up and founded the monastery, and its oldest surviving building, the Seng-ge-sgang temple, is attributed to the builder-monk Rinchen Zangpo; it once housed up to 400 monks and has about 150 today (Wikipedia, Lamayuru Monastery).

The main sights

• The crag monastery - buildings stacked on a spur above the road.
• The moonland - pale eroded lake sediments below the monastery.
• The cave shrine - the old chamber associated with Rinchen Zangpo.
• The barley terraces - green fields against the bare sediment slopes.

When to go

May to October, when the Leh-Kargil road is reliably open; the masked festival falls in summer. Winter access depends on road conditions and passes. Low sun makes the moonland most striking.

Good to know

The monastery is a standard stop on Leh to Kargil trips and busy midday. Photography inside is restricted. At 3,510 metres, altitude affects those newly arrived.

Nearby

Alchi lies east toward Leh; Kargil is west.

Key facts