Likir Monastery

Likir Monastery(Likir Gompa) is a Buddhist Monastery in Ladakh, Northern India. It is situated approximately 52 kilometres in the west of Leh. It is beautifully situated on a little hill in the valley, in Likir village near the Indus River about 9.5 kilometres north of the Srinagar to Leh highway. In Monastery two features assembly halls known as Dukhangs. If you are lucky then you will find monks doing rituals along with drum beats. The Monastery premises offer you magnificent and breathtaking beauty for photography. Else you are advised to visit the Likir Monastery Museum at the top. There is an entry charge of Rs. 20 per head.The head lama of the Liker Monastery possesses a throne that is settled at the older assembly hall along with other six rows of seats for junior Lamas. The assembly halls contain the deities of Amitabha, Sakyamuni, Bodhisattva, TsongKhapa and Maitreya Buddha .

The Likir Monastery was constructed during the reign of Lhachen Gyalpo, the fifth king of Ladakh. Lama Nawang Chosje, a renowned advocate of meditation was offered the land by the king to build the Likir Monastery. The Lama was dedicated to what he was asked to do and the monastery comes up in 1065 AD. Before the conversion in 1470 by Nawang Lotos- a central Tibetan Monk, the Likir Monastery was associated with Kadampa Sect. The Likir Monastery as it stands today is not the original one structured in the 11th century as fire ruined the primary building and after that, the monastery was reconstructed in the 18th century.

Festival

Dosmochay also known as "Festival of the Scapegoat" is the popular prayer festival that is celebrated on the 28th- 29th in the twelve month of the Tibetan calendar at Likir Monastery and Leh Palace in Leh.The mask dance also known as Cham dance is performed by the Lamas of the Monastery to dramatically express the superiority of good over evil forces.