Lamayuru Monastery, Ladakh, Indian Himalaya Stock Photo

Lamayuru is a Tibetan Buddhist Gompa (monastery) in Kargil District, Western Ladakh, situated on the Srinagar - Kargil - Leh road 15km east of the Fotu La, at a height of 3510m. Founded by the Indian scholar Mahasiddhacarya Naropa in the 11th century (allegedly on the site of a dried-up lake) after spending many years meditating, Lamayuru is the one of the largest and also one of the oldest gompa in Ladakh with a population of around 150 permament monks resident. It has, in the past, housed up to 400 monks, many of which are now based in gompas in surrounding villages. Lamayuru is host to two annual masked dance festivals, in the second and fifth months of the Tibetan lunar calendar, when all the monks from these surrounding gonpas gather together to pray.