Sankar Gompa In Leh

Sankar Gompa is an ancillary of Spituk Gompa. Both the Gompas have the same lama as their head. Sankar Gompa belongs to Gelukpa or the Yellow hat sect. The head of Gelukpa sect in Ladakh, resides in this Gompa officially. This Gompa is about a century old but is located on a site much older. The site where it is built is that of a tiny temple that was built about 500 years ago. About 25 lamas of the Yellow-hat sect are associated to the Sankar Gompa in Leh but only few of them reside here.

The Splendor Of Sankar Gompa

Founder of the Sankar Gompa in Leh was the first incarnation of Skyabje Bakula. The Dukhang or the assembly hall is to the right of the front yard of the Gompa. Its entrance is ornamented with paintings of the Guardian of the Four Directions on both the sides of the entrance. 'Wheel of Life' held by Yama adorns the left wall of the entrance of the verandah. You will find some fairly new paintings of various Buddhas along with Guardian Deities when you enter the assembly hall. Inside the Dukhang there is also a throne that is reserved for the head lama of the monastery. To the left side of the throne, there are colorful butter sculptures that are made by mixing butter and barley flour. To the left further is the image of the Yamadhaka- a fierce guardian divinity, in a glass-fronted case. An image of Avalokiteswara is on the right hand side of the throne. The image has 11 heads and 1000 arms. The image at the center of the Sankar Gompa is that of Tsong-kha-pa. Tsong-kha-pa was the one who founded the Yellow-hat sect with his two main disciples.

Images In Sankar Gompa

There are some more images in the Sankar Gompa or the Sankar Monastery. These images are of the Historical Buddha or the Shakyamuni, Amchi or the Buddha of medicine and White Guardian. There is also a temple in the Gompa that is devoted to the deity Dukar. The image of this deity is the main image in the temple. The image is crafted in such a way that it exhibits 1000 heads, 100,000 eyes, 1000 hands and 1000 feet. The image is loaded with turquoise. The Gompa contains images of the three Buddhas-Sakyamuni or the Post Buddha, the Present Buddha and Maitreya or the Future Buddha. This monastery is also the proud owner of Kandshur-the 108 teachings of the Buddha.

Sankar Gompa in Leh or Sankar Monastery is a work of excellence for those with an authentic taste of art and sacred place for the religiously zealous people. It is opened for tourists from 7.00 A.M. to 10.00A.M and from 5.00 P.M. to 7.00P.M. This gompa is a masterpiece among all other Gompas; no wonder tourists throng her to admire its grandeur.