Likir Monastery

Likir Monastery is a Gelugpa Buddhist monastery on a hill above the village of Likir, about 60 km west of Leh in Ladakh. Likir Monastery was founded in the 11th century, making it one of the older monasteries in Ladakh, and it is known for its outdoor statue of the Maitreya Buddha.

Likir Monastery was founded in the 11th century under King Lhachen Gyalpo and later passed to the Gelugpa school in the 15th century. Much of the present building dates from the 18th century, after a fire. The name Likir means the naga encircled, after the two great serpent spirits said to guard the site. Its prayer halls hold statues, murals and a small museum of thangka paintings, masks and old manuscripts. The gilded Maitreya statue, about 23 metres high and completed in 1999, sits on the roof and can be seen from far across the valley. Likir village is also the start of the gentle Sham Valley walk to Yangthang and Hemis Shukpachan.

What to see

• The 23-metre gilded Maitreya statue on the roof
• The main assembly hall and its murals
• The museum of thangkas, masks and manuscripts
• Likir village and its barley fields below
• The trailhead of the Sham Valley walk

What to wear

Likir Monastery is an active monastery, so cover shoulders and knees, remove shoes before prayer halls and walk clockwise. Wear a sun hat, sunglasses and a light jacket, and shoes with grip for steps. Ladakhis traditionally wear the goncha, a long woollen robe tied with a sash, and village women may wear the perak headdress on festival days.

Local food to try

Likir village has homestays serving home-cooked Ladakhi meals: thukpa noodle soup, skyu (a hearty stew of thumb-pressed wheat pasta and vegetables), momos, khambir flatbread with apricot jam, and salty butter tea. Homestays in the Sham Valley often serve their own apricots and barley flour, called tsampa. Food here is mostly vegetarian.

Good to know

• Best from May to October in the morning
• Open daily, morning to evening
• Small entry fee payable at the gate
• Allow about an hour
• About 60 km west of Leh, 1.5 hours by road
• Photography may be restricted inside the museum

Nearby places

Likir Monastery is usually combined with Alchi Monastery, about 20 km further west, and with Magnetic Hill and the Sangam on the same road back to Leh.