Sani Monastery

Highlights

• Sani Monastery (also written Sanee), Sa-ni-[tshog], is located next to the village of Sani where the Stod Valley broadens into the central plain of Zanskar in Ladakh, northern India.
• It is about 6 km to the northwest of the regional centre of Padum.
• Like Dzongkhul Monastery, it belongs to the Drukpa Kargyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, and is the only one of this order in Zanskar which has nuns.
• It is thought to be the oldest religious site in Ladakh and Zanskar.

Dress Code

Modest, respectful clothing is expected at this site.

Festivals

• •Nungnes has no fixed date but usually takes place in July.
• •Sani Naro-Nasjal is usually in the first week of August, between the 15th and the 20th of the sixth Tibetan month.
• •It takes place during the blooming of the 'Guru Neropa Flower'.
• •Every year the statue of Naropa is unveiled in late July or early August on the eve of the Naro-Nasjal Festival.

History

• •The gompa is built to accommodate an ancient chorten 6 m (20 ft) high and of unusual shape, known as the Kanika Chorten, is presumed to date back to the time of the Kushan emperor, Kanishka.
• •Kanishka's era is now thought to have begun in 127 CE.
• •'Kanika' is a commonly used form of Emperor Kanishka's name.
• •He is notable in Buddhist literature as a promoter of Buddhism and he is said to have sponsored an important Buddhist conference in nearby Kashmir.

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