All Ladakh Gonpa Association (ALGA) is the central organisation of the Buddhist monasteries in Ladakh, India. It aims to preserve and strengthen the monastic institutions. It was founded by the 19th Kushok Bakula Rinpoche in 1949 and he acted as its president for 41 years, from 1949 until 1991. In 1949, the first meeting of the great monasteries was held and ten monasteries took part. All Ladakh Gonpa Association was registered in 1959 and is run by a governing body consisting of fifteen lama members belonging to all four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. There are sixteen major monastic institutions with hundreds of monks in each monastery. [1]
These are listed by the river valleys. These monasteries are located on the banks and mountain slopes of various rivers within Indus River system.
These are listed by the river valleys. These edicts are located in or near monasteries on the banks and mountain slopes of various rivers within Indus river system.
Ladakh is a region administered by India as a union territory and constitutes an eastern portion of the larger Kashmir region that has been the subject of a dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 and India and China since 1959. Ladakh is bordered by the Tibet Autonomous Region to the east, the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh to the south, both the Indian-administered union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan to the west, and the southwest corner of Xinjiang across the Karakoram Pass in the far north. It extends from the Siachen Glacier in the Karakoram range to the north to the main Great Himalayas to the south. The eastern end, consisting of the uninhabited Aksai Chin plains, is claimed by the Indian Government as part of Ladakh, but has been under Chinese control.
Zanskar, Zahar (locally) or Zangskar, is a tehsil of Kargil district, in the Indian union territory of Ladakh. The administrative centre is Padum. Zanskar, together with the neighboring region of Ladakh, was briefly a part of the kingdom of Guge in Western Tibet. Zanskar lies 250 km south of Kargil town on NH301.
Kargil district is a district in Indian-administered Ladakh in the disputed Kashmir-region. It is one of the two districts comprising the Indian-administered union territory of Ladakh. The district headquarters are in the city of Kargil. The district is bounded by the Indian-administered union territory of Jammu and Kashmir to the west, the Pakistani-administered administrative territory of Gilgit–Baltistan to the north, Ladakh's Leh district to the east, and the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh to the south. Encompassing three historical regions known as Purig, Dras and Zanskar, the district lies to the northeast of the Great Himalayas and encompasses the majority of the Zanskar Range. Its population inhabits the river valleys of the Dras, Suru, Wakha Rong, and Zanskar.
Nubra, also called Dumra, is a historical region of Ladakh, India that is currently administered as a subdivision and a tehsil in the Leh district. Its inhabited areas form a tri-armed valley cut by the Nubra and Shyok rivers. Its Tibetan name Dumra means "valley of flowers". Demands have been raised and BJP has hinted at creation of Nubra as a new district. Diskit, the headquarters of Nubra, is 120 km north of Leh, the capital of Ladakh.
Hemis National Park is a high-elevation national park in Hemis in Leh district of Ladakh, India. It approx. 50 km from Leh, the capital of Ladakh. Globally famous for its snow leopards, it is believed to have the highest density of them in any protected area in the world. It is the only national park in India that is north of the Himalayas, the largest notified protected area in India and is the second largest contiguous protected area, after the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve and surrounding protected areas. The park is home to a number of species of endangered mammals, including the snow leopard. Hemis National Park is India's protected area inside the Palearctic realm, outside the Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary northeast of Hemis, and the proposed Tso Lhamo Cold Desert Conservation Area in North Sikkim.
Padum is the main town and the administrative centre of the Zanskar tehsil in Kargil district, Ladakh, India. Named after the Buddhist guru Padmasambhava, it was historically one of the two main capitals of the Zanskar Kingdom, the other being Zangla. It is 235 km (146 mi) via the link road from Kargil city. The new Nimmu–Padum–Darcha road connects Padum directly to Leh in the east and to Darcha in Himachal Pradesh.
Ladakh has a long history with evidence of human settlement from as back as 9000 b.c. It has been a crossroad of high Asia for thousands of years and has seen many cultures, empires and technologies born in its neighbours. As a result of these developments Ladakh has imported many traditions and culture from its neighbours and combining them all gave rise to a unique tradition and culture of its own.
Ladakh is an administrative territory of India that has been under its control since 1947. The geographical region of Ladakh union territory is the highest altitude plateau region in India, incorporating parts of the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges and the upper Indus River and valley.
Zangla is a village in Zanskar tehsil of Kargil district, in the Indian union territory of Ladakh. It is located 262 km (163 mi) southeast of Kargil city, the district headquarters, and 32 km (20 mi) northeast of Padum, the headquarters of Zanskar. An ancient ruined palace, known as Zangla Fort or Zangla Khar is located on a hilltop 1 km (0.62 mi) outside the village, believed to be 11th-century. The Buddhist nunnery in Zangla contains some impressive paintings.
Tourism is one of the economic contributors to the union territory of Ladakh in Northern India. The union territory is sandwiched between the Karakoram mountain range to the north and the Himalayas to the south, and is situated at a height of 11,400 ft. Ladakh is composed of Leh and Kargil districts. The region contains prominent Buddhist sites and has an ecotourism industry.
Lamayuru or Yuru Monastery is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Lamayouro, Leh district, Ladakh, India. It is situated on the Srinagar-Leh highway 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) east of the Fotu La at a height of 3,510 metres (11,520 ft) and 19 km southwest of Khalsi.
Nimo or Nyemo is a village and the headquarters of an eponymous community development block in the Leh district of Ladakh, India. It is located in the Leh tehsil, 35 km from Leh.
Karsha Monastery or Karsha Gompa is a Buddhist monastery in the Padum Valley of the Zanskar region of the union territory of Ladakh in northern India. The Doda River flows past the monastery from its source at the Drang Drung Glacier of the Pensi La. It was founded by the translator Phagspa Shesrab. The monastery, also known by the name Karsha Chamspaling, was founded by Phagspa Shesrab, under the Gelugpa Order or Yellow Hats. It is 11 km north of Padum in Zanskar River valley.
Rangdum Monastery is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery belonging to the Gelugpa sect, situated on top of a small but steep sugarloaf hill at an altitude of 4,031 m (13,225 ft) at the head of the Suru Valley, in Ladakh. It is next to the tiny village of Julidok (Zulidok), and about 25 km north of the 4,400 m (14,436 ft) Pensi La (pass), which leads into Zanskar. It is on Padum-Sankoo-Kargil Road, 103 km northwest of Padum, 87 km southeast of Sankoo & 196 southeast of Kargil. The monastery was electrified using solar energy in June 2017 by Global Himalayan Expedition (GHE)
Likir Monastery or Likir Gompa (Klud-kyil) is a Buddhist monastery in Ladakh, Northern India. It is located at 3700m elevation, approximately 52 kilometres (32 mi) west of Leh. It is picturesquely situated on a little hill in the valley, in Likir village near the Indus River about 9.5 kilometres (5.9 mi) north of the Srinigar to Leh highway. It belongs to the Gelugpa sect of Tibetan Buddhism and was established in 1065 by Lama Duwang Chosje, at the command of the fifth king of Ladakh, Lhachen Gyalpo (Lha-chen-rgyal-po). It is off the Leh-Kargil Highway, 50 km west of Leh between Alchi & Basgo, 17 km west of Basgo Monastery & 21 km northeast of Alchi Monastery.
Diskit Monastery also known as Deskit Gompa or Diskit Gompa is the oldest and largest Buddhist monastery (gompa) in Diskit, Nubra Valley of the Leh district of Ladakh. It is 115 km north of Leh.
Mulbekh Monastery or Mulbekh Gompa, at 11,495 ft from sea level and 656 ft uphill from road level, consists of a 9 m (30 ft) tall Maitreya Buddha statue, 1400 CE kharosti language edicts on the hill, and two 800-year-old gompas: Serdung gompa of Drukpa lineage and Rgaldan-se gompa of Gelugpa lineage of Buddhism. It is found 40 km from Kargil on NH1 Kargil-Leh Highway in the Kargil district of Ladakh in northern India. The monastery has large prayer wheels, and the view en route to the cliff monastery has been described as beautiful. Rgaldan-se Gompa, established by Tungba Lzawa who is also known as Agu Tungba, was renovated in 2016. Nyima Lhakhang temple was built around 800 years ago in the oldest section of the Mulbekh Monastery by the students of the great Tibetan scholar Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo, and it houses Lhakhang.
Dzongkhul Monastery or Zongkhul Gompa is located 30 km northwest of Padum in the Stod Valley of Zanskar in Ladakh, northern India. Like the Sani Monastery, it belongs to the Drukpa school of Tibetan Buddhism
Alchi Monastery or Alchi Gompa is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery, known more as a monastic complex (chos-'khor) of temples in Alchi village in the Leh District, under the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council of the Ladakh Union Territory. The complex comprises four separate settlements in the Alchi village in the lower Ladakh region with monuments dated to different periods. Of these four hamlets, Alchi monastery is said to be the oldest and most famous. It is administered by the Likir Monastery. It is 60 west of Leh on Leh-Kargil Highway.
Nimmu–Padum–Darcha road (NPDR) or Zanskar Highway is a road between the Indian union territory of Ladakh and the state of Himachal Pradesh, passing through the region of Zanskar. It connects Nimmu in the Indus Valley to Padum, the capital of Zanskar, and to Darcha village in Lahul and Spiti. It provides an alternative to the Leh–Manali Highway in linking Ladakh with the rest of India. It was built by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) of the Indian Army. The construction of road was completed in March 2024. The already completed Atal tunnel, and the proposed unidirectional-twin-tube total-4-lane Shingo La Tunnel, which is expected to be completed by 2025 will provide all weather connectivity and reduce the distance from Manali to Kargil by 522 km.