The Ladhak Series: Palaces and Monasteries

What’s in a place, if it does not have a history to uncover? Ladhak does not disappoint you in any sense. The Palaces and the monasteries are two aspects of the state that can amaze and wow you, as well as help you understand the Ladhaki culture and history.

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Ladhak has predominantly 3 main palaces- The Leh palace, the Shey Palace and the Stok palace. And all of them are very much unlike the others palaces in grandeur from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. These Palaces are simple in terms of architecture and beauty. The only aspect that differentiates the palaces with the ordinary household in Ladakh is the size of the building, for example the Leh palace which is 9 storey large and still remains the largest structure in Ladakh.

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The Namgyal family which currently resides in the Stok palace, has been ruling the province of Ladakh since the 15th century and has played a vital role in spread of Buddhism in the region. There were Mughal and Sikh intrusions in the past, however with the passage of time the practice of preaching and following Buddhism has just grew stronger.

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The monastery or the Gompa mean Solitary place. The Gompa’s are the centre of worship where the lamas (monks) go about with their duties, presumably oblivious of the crowd of sightseers. The most famous of the monasteries are the Thiksey, Hemis, Lamayaru and Alchi. These Monasteries give you a sense of calm and I indeed felt so when I visited the Spituk Monastery.

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I have travelled across many destinations in the recent past and am making a genuine effort to know culture and history of the land. An easy way to do so it to read a book to relate what you have seen. I would suggest a book by Janet Rizvi – Ladakh: Crossroads of High Asia. A genuine effort to help us understand Ladhak in its entirety i.e. people, history and culture.

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I travelled across numerous lands in search of calm and peace, but eventually returned back home to find them both within.