Likir Monastery

Highlights

• 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 and Basgo, 17 km west of Basgo Monastery and 21 km northeast of Alchi Monastery.

Dress Code

Modest, respectful clothing is expected at this site.

History

• •Likir is mentioned in the Ladakhi Chronicles as erected by King Lhachen Gyalpo (Lha-chen-rgyal-po) (c.
• •It presumably originally belonged to the early Kadampa order of Tibetan Buddhism.
• •When Tibetologist August Hermann Francke visited the monastery in 1909 he was shown a long inscription written in black ink on a wall which outlined the history of the monastery.
• •Francke had it copied and interprets it as follows: "King Lha-chen-rgyal-po founded the monastery in the 11th century.

Architecture

• •The monastery has two assembly halls, known as dukhangs.
• •The older one is located on the right of the central courtyard, with six rows of seats for the lamas and a throne for the head lama of Likir.
• •The dukhangs contain statues of Bodhisattva, Amitabha, three large statues of Sakyamuni, Maitreya and Tsong Khapa, founder of the yellow hat sect.
• •The monastery is also a repository of old manuscripts, has a notable thangka collection and old costumes and earthen pots.

Temple Layout

• •The monastery has two assembly halls, known as dukhangs.
• •The older one is located on the right of the central courtyard, with six rows of seats for the lamas and a throne for the head lama of Likir.
• •The dukhangs contain statues of Bodhisattva, Amitabha, three large statues of Sakyamuni, Maitreya and Tsong Khapa, founder of the yellow hat sect.
• •The monastery is also a repository of old manuscripts, has a notable thangka collection and old costumes and earthen pots.

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