Key (Kye) Monastery, Spiti

Key Monastery (Kye Gompa) sits on a conical hill at 4,166 metres above the Spiti river, 14 km north of Kaza, the Spiti Valley's main town. The monastery was founded in the 11th century by Dromtön (a student of Atisha) and grew into the largest Gelug-school monastery in Spiti, training over 250 monks at peak. The structure is a stack of low-slung whitewashed buildings clinging to the hillside — designed as a fortified outpost, with the monastery resembling a small mountain village more than a temple. Key has been damaged repeatedly through history: by Mongol raids in the 1840s, by the Sikh general Zorawar Singh in 1841, by fire in 1841 and again in 1964, and by the 1975 earthquake. Each rebuild has added a layer to its architecture, giving the monastery a complex multi-period feel. Inside: a vast collection of thangkas (Tibetan paintings), wall murals, ancient manuscripts, and a 9-foot Buddha statue. The monastery hosts the Gustor festival each summer (June-July) with masked Cham dances. The road to Spiti is open only May–October; winter access requires the Manali-Kaza route through the Kunzum Pass.