Hill Stations in Leh
Western Union
At an elevation of 3,500 m and 10 km from the River Indus, Leh is one of the districts of Ladakh other being Kargil. It is at a distance of 434 km from Srinagar. Ladakh is divided into five zones by the River Indus, namely, Leh, Nubra, Zanskar, lower Ladakh and Rupshu. Leh was established as a trading post and a market where the merchants can trade tea, salt, household articles, wool and semi-precious stones.
The major attractions of Leh comprises of several architectural edifices. Built in 16th century AD, the Leh Palace is a miniature model of the Lhasa's Potala Palace. King Singe Namgyal built the palace and the royal family owns the palace even today. But they prefer to live in the palace at Stok and it is unoccupied.
Founded by the Namgyal rulers, Tsemo or the Red Gompa is right above the Leh Palace. A treasure trove of pretty paintings and marvelous manuscripts, the Tsemo Gompa also houses a 3 storey high statue of Maitreya edged by Avalokiteshwara on the right and Manjusri on the left. The Soma Gompa or the New Monastery in Leh was erected to celebrate the 2500th anniversary of the birth of Buddha. The electrically ignited Sankar Gompa, few kilometers from Leh is one of the few gompas of the Yellow Hat Sect. It is the residing place of the chief lama of the Spituk and is renowned for the painting of Avalokiteshwara wit 11 heads and 1000 arms.
Leh Mosque is also a noteworthy building in the main market of Leh. The mosque is built on the land granted by King Deldan Namgyal in the 1660's probably because his grandmother was the Muslim queen of Ladakh. Japanese Shanti Stupa is another worth visiting place in Leh. Located I the Changspa Lane, it is one of the series of 'Peace Pagoda' built by the Japanese the worldwide.
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