Alchi Gompa Travel Guide

Poll outside Rhizong, which is situated at the top of a spectacular gorge (not shown due to lack of webspace). Rhizong is a seventeenth century gompa, thus is relatively new by Ladakhi standards. The place is full of thangkas and murals, amongst which there are images of Shakyamuni, Amitaus (Buddha of Long Life) and Chenrezig (Buddha of Compassion). There's also a small nunnery called Thardot Choling here, which many miss (including me).

Yes, all these Buddhas do get confusing after a while.

The bottom picture is a footbridge over the the Indus near Rhizong, accompanied by more spectacular mountain scenery.

What's wrong with this picture (apart from the fact it's a bit blurry - you try taking a good picture in low light without a tripod)?

Nothing!!! That's the point I'm trying to make especially to people who've been to Tibet. You don't see the Dalai Lama's picture in the open, even in the most devout Yellow Hat monasteries there. A few miles away in Ladakh, you even see them in the rival Red Hat monasteries.

The Chinese who see the Dalai Lama as a separatist leader will not allow his picture to appear just over the border in Tibet and instead, you see pictures of their 'Panchen Lama' (the one they picked and not the one who they did magic on - i.e. made disappear).

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Lucky timing meant arriving here at the height of the monk's prayer and chanting (sorry, I don't know the Buddhist name for it). Even luckier was having the crap scared out of me when the boy monk right next to me gave me a full blast of his horn that I didn't know he had hidden under his robes!!!

Likir (first picture) was founded in 1065 by Lama Duwang Chosje after been given the land by the Ladakhi king. It was taken off the Khadampa sect by the Gelugpa sect (the Dalai Lama's Yellow Hat lot) in 1470 and remains a Yellow Hat sect gompa to this day. It's dedicated to the three Buddhas - Marme Zat (past), Shakyamuni (present) and Maitreya (future). Likir is also the starting point for a two day trek to Temisgang via Rizong - if you're fit enough, go for it. I managed the Saspol to Likkir section and some of the views from the pass tops are spectacular.

The second picture shows Poll admiring giant Buddha, Likir. This pesky parrot gets everywhere. Poll has just read that the Japanese provided the finance to have the Buddha restored. It's not clear how old the Buddha is and was either Japanese-built or restored. Whatever.

Chortens as Stupas are known up here, are also planted out all over Ladakh and can grow anywhere, including fields and on top of mountains. However, the locals seem to leave them there when it comes to harvest.

Seriously, chortens are symbols of devotion, containing in many cases Buddhist relics and revered just as much by the locals as the main gompas. It is astounding where some chortens are to be found in both Ladakh and Tibet - the lower picture shows a chorten with branches sticking out of the the top, to which prayer flags can be tied, dispensing the prayers of the locals to the heavens. The same applies to the masses of prayer flags sometimes seen next to the roadside at the high passes all over Ladakh and Tibet.

Beefy and Poll can be seen here enjoying views of the Zanskar range, in what I regard as one of the most photo-genic parts of Ladakh. Alchi and th local gompas (Buddhist temples) is a place to just chill out in and around, and have some free time to yourself.

The crop is Barley, which is the only sizeable crop that can be grown up here.

No, they are not bales of hay with their own legs - they are people carrying bales of hay through the Alchi countryside!!!

Now that's straightened out, on the right is a Kashmiri-style Buddha - this is the Maitreya or Future Buddha (Buddha to come). This three story Buddha is one of the few surviving examples of it's kind, as most like it were destroyed during the 14th Century. In 1341, Kashmir was invaded and forcibly converted to Islam - only the remoteness of this gompa (in Ladakh rather than Kashmir) saved it from a similar fate.

In Alchi, it's advised to concentrate on the Du-Khang and the Sumstek Gompas if briefly passing through.

The top picture is of a sand mandala in Sumstek Gompa. A mandala is a symmetrical, geometric representation based on circles and squares, of the Buddhist cosmos symbolising the order and harmony achieved by the enlightened mind. They hare supposed to have a great deal of power, where the forces of the universe are gathered in them. In tantric forms of Buddhism, practitioners seek to absorb the mandala's power by meditation. Mandalas most frequently appear on thangkas (a Buddhist scroll or banner - see Hemis on the Indus Valley page) or temple walls; however, they can also be done in coloured sand as in Alchi or a few monasteries in Tibet.

The bottom picture was of the wall paintings in Saspol caves, over the other side of the Indus from Alchi. I know it doesn't show very well, but there's a monkey god on the pictures who looks just like me. No, you're not going to see a picture of the monkey god, specifically because it looks like me!!!

Although the associated gompa is no longer functioning, the paintings are still maintained by Monks from Likir Gompa. I'm unable to tell you much more about them though, I'm afraid.

Sometimes you get lucky, such as arriving in Alchi during a local festival. Sometimes you're luck runs out on you, like when you dash down the hill to find the dancing ending just as you arrive, tripping over and only narrowly avoiding falling on the lens of your £300 camera. For me, it was one of those day, that said, I did get to take a few photos of the local women in their local costumes.

As for the two kids in the bottom picture, it was too good a picture not to include here.