Spituk Monastery

This monastery is built on a lone rocky hill on the right bank of Indus, eight km away from the town of Leh towards Srinagar. It is one of the most influntial monastries of the 'Yello Hat' the Ge-lugs-pa order has as its subsidary, the Shankar Gompa. Built in the 15th century on the ruins of a 11th century gompa, the Spituk gompa has as its abbot the Kushak Bakula( Kushak is an incarnate head lama of a monastry who has attained highest form of training of Buddhism).The dhukhang has a veranda with the usual frescos of the Wheel of Life and other Buddhist symbols. The kangyur and Tangyur lie stacked on one side, while wall paintings adorn the walls. Statues of the Avalokiteswara and Yamantaka stand on either side of te seat of Dalai Lama and Kushak Bakula. On the altar can be seen standing the statues of the fifth Dalai Lama and the 18th Kushak Bakula, along with those of Sakyamuni and another Buddha.

There are some interesting rooms which contain some very old and rare statues and other articles, but unfortunately now these are closed as some things were stolen.