Zongkhul Monastery

Text and Photographs by Mr. Sachin Vaidya


Zongkhul Monastery's main shrine lies within a dark cave where it is believed the 11th century yogi Naropa meditated. Naropa was a teacher at Vikramshila and Nalanda universities. An imprint on a rock is believed to be Naropa’s footprint. The Monastery lies in Stod Valley - 30 km North West of Padum (Kargil District of Ladakh). It belongs to Drukpa School of Tibetan Buddhism.

I visited the Monastery during June 2019. The Monastery is located at scenic location at the end of motorable road.



A government signboard directed us to the Monastery.


A popular [but tough] trek was starting from the Monastery.



A closer look at the Monastery:


An old stupa was protected.


A prayer wheel is a common sight of any Buddhist monastery.



A government signboard presented the history and tradition of the Monastery.



A prayer flag fluttered at the courtyard.



The Monastery's exteriors sported white colour.



The main door was elegant.





A curtain had an interesting picture upon it.


Religious idols in the cave of the Monastery are visible in the following photograph:


There were usual decorations in the Monastery:


Some photographs are of poor quality; however, they have been retained for memory:



The following imprint on rock is [reportedly] Naropa's footprint.


Zongkhul Monastery is one of the least visited monastery of Ladakh due to its remoteness and costs involved in travelling. Unfortunately my camera had developed some defects and hence, photograph quality is poor.





Comments

  1. TreklineOctober 22, 2021 at 10:41 PM

    We could not visit this monastery in our Zandkar valley trip in 2012.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SachinOctober 23, 2021 at 5:05 AM

      We missed it out during our visit; however, vehicle costs in Zanskar are exorbitant.

      Delete

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