Chemrey Monastrey

Founded in 1664 by Lama Tagsang Raschen, Chemrey Monastrey is situated 40 kilometres from Leh in Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir. The Chemrey Monastery was under the Drukpa monastic order and was built under the patronage of King Sengge Namgyal. As per Professor Luciano Petech, it was actually founded after Sengge Namgyal`s death as a funeral act of merit for him. There are about 20 monks of Drukpa community residing in the monastery.

There are numerous shrines that are located in the monastery but the major attraction is the one-storied idol of Padmasambhava, who was instrumental in the spread of Buddhism in Tibet and translated many Indian scriptures written in Pali and Sanskrit into Tibetan. There are also rare collections of valuable Buddhist scriptures, like the twenty-nine volumes of the scriptures whose title pages are in solid silver of exquisite craftsmanship, and the text in pure gold. The monastery contains two main assembly halls (Du-Khang) and a Lama temple (Lha-Khang) which holds the murals of Sakyamuni along with his two chief followers.

Several religious programmes are performed in the monastery, the sacred dances called the Chemrey Angchok is of most importance. The festival takes place on the 28th and 29th day of the 9th month of the Tibetan calendar. During this annual programme, the dances are performed in association with the festival of an initiatory ritual. The picturesque location of the monastery and the festivities from June to October attracts large number of tourists.