Sankar Monastery

Sankar Monastery is a Buddhist monastery about half an hour's walk from Leh, a daughter house of Spituk Monastery and the residence of its abbot, the Kushok Bakula, senior incarnate lama of Ladakh. Its fairly modern buildings stand among trees above the town, below the Khardung La pass. Fewer than twenty monks live here, so visiting is limited to early morning and evening.

Steps lead up to the richly painted doors of the assembly hall, with three green drums to the right. Upstairs, the inner sanctuary holds a figure of Avalokiteshvara, or Chenrezig, with 1,000 arms holding weapons and 1,000 heads, and painted on its walls are mandalas, a Tibetan calendar and the rules for monks. Above are the abbot's rooms, guest rooms and the library. Each morning and evening a lama from here goes up to Namgyal Tsemo to light the butter lamps.