Sumur, Leh, Ladakh

Sumur, Leh, Ladakh


Ahead of the convergence of the Shyok and Nubra rivers, Sumur is a place of haven extended over a large area. It shelters the most prominent monastery, Samstem Ling Gompa, which arrives after a pleasant forty minute walk. This monastery was built in the year 1841 and the Gompa accumulates monks within the age group of 7 to 70. To catch the morning or evening puja, you will have to do a night stay in Sumur. Most of the guest houses are located on the sand lane which leads from the bus stop at the prayer wheel.

If you want to attend the puja you will have to do an overnight stay in Sumur. There is no need to worry because accommodation facilities are provided in Sumur`s hotel`s at reasonable rates. The AO guesthouse located nearby the main road offers basic double rooms, camping, vegetarian cafe and garden. You get another option of camping down the lane to the galaxy guesthouse for just Rs.60. An additional walk of ten minutes will lead you to the friendly Stakray guesthouse which avails a facility of basic double rooms overlooking a huge vegetable garden and a traditional Ladakhi kitchen. It is a 1.5 km trek to the Gompa from here, which is convenient for catching the pujas.

Sumtsek, Leh, Ladakh

Sumtsek, Leh, Ladakh

The Sumtsek is located on the left of the Du-khang that marks the finest of works in the history of early medieval Indian-Buddhist art. Its wood carvings and paintings are influenced by rich lively colours of red and blue and they are today as fresh and as vivacious as they were 900 years before. The main attraction of Sumtsek is a massive statue of Maitreya, the Buddha-to-come; his head is protected from the high imposing height in the second storey. Accompanying him are two equally grand bodhisattvas and they are positioned as if they are searching desperately through the gaps in the ceiling. Each of these embellishes statues wears a figure clinging dhoti decorated with careful design and pattern. Avalokitesvara, the bodhisattva of compassion situated to the left, has pilgrimage sites, court vignettes, palaces and pre-Muslim style stupas on his dressing gown, while that of Maitreya is decorated with episodes from the life of Gautama Buddha. The robe of Manjushri which is the destroyer of falsehood, to the right, shows the 84 masters of Tantra, the Mahasiddhas, and adopting complex yogic poses in a maze of bold square patterns. Some of the delicate murals were refurbished in the sixteenth century, among them which are famous are the six-armed green goddess Prajnaparamita, known as the "Perfection of Wisdom Amazingly. The huge amounts of other images that are displayed in the interior of the Sumtsek, when sighted from the centre ascertain the atmosphere into a serene and tranquil whole.

Stok, Leh, Ladakh

Stok, Leh, Ladakh


Beyond the Tibetan refugee camp at Choglamsar, at the head of a huge moraine, there lays a graceful four storey Stok palace, standing tall in the shadow of an intermediating TV mast, facing barley terraces filled with whitewashed farmhouses. Stok palace was built in the early nineteenth century by the last ruler of independent Ladakh. Then it became the official residence of the Ladakhi royal family, since they were expelled out of Leh and Shey approximately 200 year`s ago.

The present Gyalmo or Queen, Deskit Angmo, a former member of the Parliament, lives here during the summer and has converted one wing of her 77-roomed palace into a small museum. The awe-inspiring collection in the museum comprises of some of the precious heirlooms, including exquisite sixteenth-century Thangkas enlightened with paint made up of crushed rubies, emeralds and sapphires. The ancient headdresses are still worn on important occasions and are thought to have originated in Tibet. These are coated with slabs of flawless turquoise, polished coral, lapis lazuli and nuggets of pure gold. Stok gompa possesses a collection of dance-drama masks, and some heavily ornate modern murals painted by lamas from Lingshet gompa in Zanskar, the artists responsible for creating the Maitreya statue in Tikse.

Accommodation in Stok
Spending half day in stok is enough to speculate its beauty and its side-valley. Buses leave Leh for Stok at 8am, 2pm, 4pm and 6pm. The last bus returning to Leh leaves at 5pm and if you miss it or are excited to stay there, try the Hotel High land. It is a splendid two-storey house with fine views that presents well-furnished and good rooms. Around 2km down the road towards Leh is the grand Hotel Skittsal, which offers picturesque views over the Indus Valley.

Sankar Gompa, Leh, Ladakh

Sankar Gompa, Leh, Ladakh


Lying in the middle the sparkling poplar wood and terraced fields of barley extend upto the valley behind Leh, Sankar gompa, 2km north of the town centre, is among the most accessible monasteries in central Ladakh. You can get there either by car or on foot, turn left at the Antelope Guesthouse, and then right onto the concrete path that runs alongside the stream. Sankar appears after about fifteen minutes` walk, surrounded by sun-bleached chortens and a high mud wall.

The monastery, a small under-gompa of Spitok, is staffed by twenty monks, and is the official residence of the Kushok Bakula, Ladakh`s head of the Gelug-pa sect. The rinpoche, born a prince in 1914, has had an active career, serving in the Indian Parliament in the 1960s and later being posted to Mongolia as an ambassador. Though he now spends most of his days in a new house behind the gompa, the rinpoche`s glass-fronted former quarters enjoy pride of place on top of the main building, crowned with a golden spire and a dharma chakra flanked by two deer (symbolizing the Buddha`s first sermon in Sarnath). Above the Du-khang (main prayer hall) stands the gompa`s principal deity, Tara, in her triumphant, l000-armed form as Dukkar, or "Lady of the White Parasol", presiding over a light, airy shrine room whose walls are decorated with a Tibetan calendar and tableaux depicting "dos and don`ts" for monks - some of which are very secret indeed. Another flight of steps leads to the gompa library and, eventually, a roof terrace with fine views towards the north side of Namgyal Tsemo hill and the valley to the south.