Hanle Monastery

Hanle Monastery is a 17th-century monastery of the Drukpa Kagyu school in the Hanle Valley of Ladakh, on an old branch of the Ladakh–Tibet trade route, 255 kilometres south-east of Leh and just 19 kilometres from the disputed frontier with Chinese-controlled Tibet. It was built under the Ladakhi king Sengge Namgyal, who ruled about 1616–1642, with the help of the Tibetan lama and traveller Taktsang Repa. It was the first monastery tied to the Drukpa lineage, which with royal patronage came to rival the Gelug school. The king himself died at Hanle while returning from a campaign against the Mongols.

Around ten monks live at the monastery and about 33 more come regularly for prayers, and the Tashi Choeling centre, founded with outside donations in 1983, supports a community of nuns. The Indian Astronomical Observatory stands at Hanle too. Because the area lies so close to the border, visitors need special permission from the Government of India.