Hemis Monastery

Hemis Monastery, 45 km from Leh in the Indus valley, is the largest and wealthiest monastery in Ladakh. Founded in 1672 by Stagsang Raspa Nawang Gyatso under the patronage of Ladakhi king Senge Namgyal, Hemis is the seat of the Drukpa Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism — also called the Red Hat school. The monastery houses around 500 monks and an extensive collection of thangkas, statues, and sacred manuscripts. The Hemis Festival, held over two days each summer (June-July) on the courtyard, is the headline event — masked Cham dances are performed by monks dressed as wrathful and peaceful deities to commemorate the birth of Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche). The 12-yearly Yearly thangka, a 12-metre embroidered silk thangka of Padmasambhava, is unfurled only every 12 years (next 2028) — the largest thangka in Asia. Other monastery highlights include the Hemis Museum (with ancient weapons and ritual objects) and the Gotsangpa hermitage cave above the monastery, used by the Drukpa lineage's 12th-century founder.