Stok Monastery

Stok Monastery, located 15 km from Leh, was once the residence of the royal family of Ladakh. The Namgyals who were the rulers of Ladakh had abandoned Shey in 1842 and fled to Stok when the Dogra rulers of Jammu and Kashmir invaded Ladakh. The descendants of the royal family still reside at the Stok Palace. The monastery was however built in the 14th century by a lama known as Lhawang Lotus. The gompa is affiliated to Gelugpa or the Yellow Hat sect of Buddhism.

One of the major attractions of the monastery is its impressive library which has 108 volumes of Buddha’s teachings known as Kangyur. In recent times, a new temple has been built that has an image of Avalokitesvara with 1,000 arms and 11 heads. Stok Guru Tsechu, the festival of Stok Monastery held in February/March, is a major crowd puller. It is held on the 9th and 10th days of the first month of the Tibetan calendar. Stok also attracts many trekkers as it is the gateway to several high altitude treks like Stok Kangri, Markha Valley and Indus Valley treks.