Ladakh Temples

Spectacular Ladakh is a region in the India with some beautiful and ancient temples. Most of Buddhist temples Ladakh are present in Monasteries.

Manjushree Temple, also called 'Jampe Lha khang'. From a variety of studies of the iconography of the Manjushree temple, Alchi evaluated with that of the Sumtseg and Sumda Assembly hall. It has been incidental that the temple dates to around 1225 AD. Four pillars form the enclosure for the images. The Manjushree images are on a common pedestal, painted recently to give an overall picture of fright since the decorative scrolls are derived from the tails of Makara surrounded by images of animals, gods and symbols. The normal color endorsed to Manjushree images is orange, but in this temple they are represented with different colors.

According to the Eschatology of Buddhism which states the final events in history in the Buddhist viewpoint, Buddha supposed that all his teachings, particularly those on moral behavior would be disappear after 5000 years of its commencement and his reincarnation Maitreya would be born again and attain enlightenment and re-teach 'The Dharma' all over again. Buddhists await the coming of Maitreya. In this Endeavour the Buddhists have constructed several temples for Maitreya. This white Chamba Temple was built by King Tragspa Bumde in the 15th Century.

Paldan Lumo Temple is one of the uppermost temple located on the hill top near the river Indus in Ladakh District of Jammu and Kashmir. It has been made inside the Spituk monastery, that is located about 18 km from Ladakh . The Ladakh temple is devoted to Vajrabhairava. In the month of January annual festival is celebrated and the frightening face of Vajrabhairva is unveiled to the public. It also houses articles of tantrik worship, strange looking images, antiques and arms. The temple also contain a shield made of cane. The pillars of the temple are covered with the hides of tigers. The Ladakh temple is the main attraction. The Indian army personnel posted at Ladakh are the main worshippers at this shrine.

Serzang temple is one of the famous Ladakh temple located nearby to the royal quarters in Basgo village in Ladakh . Serzang temple were built during the time of 17th century using gold and copper. This Ladakh temple has copper gilt picture of 30 ft height Maitreya Buddha. The temple can be reached by traveling on the main Ladakh -Srinagar Highway. The temple has many mural paintings like Tilopa, Marpa, Mila Raspa and Naropa.The walls of Buddha pictures have been beautifully painted walls of Buddha along with the images of people associated with Red Hat sect, the temple has also a Serzang manuscript copy of the Tibetan Buddhist Canon, written in silver, gold and copper letters.

Matho temple is located at a distance of 26 km to the south-east of Ladakh on the opposite bank of the River Indus. There is a monastery, which belongs to the Saskya Order. Matho temple were founded by a Lama Dugpa Dorje before five hundred years ago. Shrines and sacred temple are mainly devoted to the guardian deity are to be seen there. Matho Nagrang festival takes place every year during the month of 14th and 15th day of first Tibetan month. Monks from different monastery perform sacred dances and two oracles known as the Rongtsan make their appearance.

The monks of Stok and Spituk monasteries also celebrate Stok Gruru Tsechu for two days with mask dances performed. It is also held in Feb. around a week before the Matho Nagrang. During the festival two oracle appears, but they are laymen from the same village prepared by monks to receive the spirit of the deities.

Vajra Bhairav Shrine is situated at Spituk, Indus River Valley, in Leh. Vajra Bhairav Shrine is essentially committed to a tantric guardian deity, who belongs to the Gelug-pa order. It is usually believed that this divinity has some supernatural powers and is basically revealed to the public only once in a year. Rest of the time, this idol is kept inside a chamber, which is present at this shrine.
Travelers can also see more than 600 years old paintings on the walls of this holy place. This shrine is considered to be one of the oldest structures in Spituk. It is positioned about 10 km from Leh and can be arrived at by road.

Sun Temple is a very prominent temple in Leh-Ladakh, which is devoted to the Sun God, Bhaskar. It is a mediaeval holy place, which was created by King Lalitaditya for honored the Sun God. There is a colonnaded courtyard at this temple along with the main shrine. Tourists can also observe approximately 84 columns that were used for building this temple. It was also built with hard and square granite, which acts as a souvenir of the architectural style of the previous era.

The top floor of the Thikse monastery houses the Lamokhang temple is present, which is a warehouse of plentiful volumes of scriptures including Kangyur and Stangyur. Only men are allowed to enter this floor. There are big stupas and Mani walls at the entry to the monastery. A small room above the temple is completely used as a school room to teach local boys of the villages and some of these boys are chosen as Lamas. The top floor is also the authorized residence of the incarnate lama of the monastery. At Lamokhang Temple a huge pillar imprinted with the Buddha's teachings is also located. The monastery complex consists of a number of white washed huts, which house the Lamas.

Tara temple is present inside Thikse Monastery of Leh. Tara temple is devoted to goddess Tara with her 21 images located in glass-covered wooden shelf. Also, small shrines devoted to several guardian divinities including Cham-spring - the protector deity of Thikse - can also be seen between the main courtyard and the staircase. The Chi-khang has an image of the Buddha with two of his disciples and the deity Yamantaka. The courtyard wall painting depicts Tsong Khapa, the Buddha, Padmasambhāva, Palden Lhamo and Mahakala.