Lhalung Monastery Spiti

Built in– 10^th century

Built by– Rinchen Zangpo, the ruler of the western Himalayan territory of Guge

Highlight– One of the earliest monasteries in Spiti

Lhalung Monastery in Spiti is also known as Sarkhang and Golden Temple. It was founded way back in the 10th century CE by Rinchen Zangpo, the then ruler of the western Himalayan region of Guge in the Spiti Valley. Hence, it is one of the oldest monasteries in Spiti.

In the local language, the word ”Lhalung” means the ”land of God’God’, and the locals believe that this Gompa was created in just one night by the Gods themselves. The presiding deity Lhalung is the chief deity of all the deities in the valley and rises from a mountain named Tangmar, which is away from the village. It is also said that the Tangmar Mountain changes its color. Sometimes it is yellow, and sometimes it is red, pointing out the moods of the deities. Yellow denotes happiness, and red means anger.

The monastery is also known as the Golden temple due to the presence of several gold leaves that are kept here inside the temple. Also, there is another reason why it is Sarkhang. This sacred place has a beautiful inner chamber with festooned walls where photographs of around 50 deities are hung.

Architecture

The monastery’smonastery’s construction is like a fort that resembles the Tabo monastery. Earlier, there were relic walls, but the walls have crumbled down with the passage of time. The inner chamber was adorned with beautiful paintings, but the sheen has gone dull with time. In the starting, the monastery was also seen as the site of meditation and learning, but it was only for worship.

Inside Lhalung monastery, there is an old tree as well. Just outside the main temple is another white-colored shrine with 4 images of Lord Buddha, facing the 4 main directions. Several Buddhist relics can be found here.

Worship Timing

The timing of worship in the Lhalung monastery begins around 6 in the morning, which is done by the Buddhist priest and is also attended by the local villagers. This worship act also includes soothing chants. The monastery is open till 6’o6’o clock in the evening.

For more information about this monastery of Spiti, you can contact us. You can also cover this monastery on your holiday in Spiti. In addition, we provide fully customizable tour packages of Spiti that you can modify with the help of pour tour experts.