Takthok Monastery

Takthok Monastery stands on a mountainside at Sakti village, about 46 kilometres east of Leh, and is the only monastery in Ladakh of the Nyingma, or Red Hat, school. Its name means 'rock roof', since both roof and walls are of rock. Tsewang Namgyal I was king when it was founded in the 16th century around a cave in which, it is said, Padmasambhava meditated in the 8th century, and about 55 lamas live here.

The main temple is dark, its low rock ceiling blackened by centuries of butter-lamp smoke and its old paintings hidden under grime. A cave further down now serves as a kitchen with huge stoves for feeding festival pilgrims. The assembly hall's verandah shows the Four Lords and fierce protectors, and inside are statues of Maitreya, Padmasambhava and his form Dorje Takposal. Below stands a newer temple that the 14th Dalai Lama consecrated in 1980, with a small cave behind where Padmasambhava is believed to have spent three years. The Tsechu festival falls around July–August.