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Sankar Gompa is located about 3 km from the main city and is
famous for its traditional architectural style. Inside the gompa,
there is a figure of Avalokitesvara having 1,000 heads and arms.
Sankar Monastery can be reached from Leh on foot. The visit time
is limited to morning and evening.
Sankar Gompa is an ancillary of the Spituk Gompa monastery of
Ladakh., it belongs to the Gelukpa or the Yellow Hat Sect. The
monastery also serves as the official residence of the Ladakh's
head of Gelukpa Sect, known as the Kushok Bakul. There are time
restrictions for visiting the Sankar Monastery of Leh Ladakh.
One can also go either between 7:00 am and 10:00 am, or between
5:00 pm and 7:00 pm. These restrictions have been placed because
a few of the monks, of the yellow-hat sect, attached to the
monastery reside here permanently.
Sankar Gompa is also an official residence of the Kushok Bakul,
Ladakh’s head of this sect. The paintings of the Guardian of
Four Directions are displayed on the entrance of the Dukhang on
both sides of the door. The inside walls of the Dukhang are
adorned with beautiful paintings of various Buddhas with
guardian divine powers. A throne is also reserved for lama, the
head of the monastery.
The steps at this monastery lead to double doors that are the
means to reach 'Dukhang' or the assembly hall. On the right of
the doors, there are three green drums along with a place of the
Gyeskos. The walls of this monastery are painted completely with
mandalas and a Tibetan calendar. Tourists can also visit
library, guest rooms, and the rooms of Abbot that are located
upstairs.
Dukhang (assembly hall) is to the right of the front yard of the
monastery is the. Both the sides of its entrance are decorated
with the paintings of the Guardian of the Four Directions. On
the left wall of the entrance verandah is a "Wheel of Life",
held by Yama. On entering the Dukhang, one will come across some
relatively new paintings of various Buddhas, along with guardian
deities. There is also a throne inside the Dukhang which is
reserved for the head lama of the monastery. On the right-hand
side of the throne there is an image of Avalokitesvara (Lord of
All He Surveys), with 1000 arms and 11 heads.
The central image inside the Sankar Monastery is that Tsong-kha-pa
who is the founder of the yellow-hat sect of Buddhism, along
with his two chief followers. To the left of this image is
another image of Avalokitesvara, again with 1,000 arms and 11
heads. And to its right is a case full of Tibetan bronzes. There
are a number of other images also, like those of Sakyamuni (the
Historical Buddha), The Present Buddha, Maitreya (the Future
Buddha), White Guardian and Amchi (the Buddha of Medicine).
Dukar Lokhang, a temple devoted to the deity Dukar is diagonally
opposite to the door, leading to the small inner courtyard of
the monastery. The main image inside Dukar Lokhang is that of
Dukar, inset with turquoise and shown with 1,000 arms, 1,000
feet, 1,000 heads, and 100,000 eyes. To the right of the image
is a statue of Maitreya (the Buddha of the Future). Sankar Gompa
also has the possession of Kandshur, the 108 volumes of Buddha's
teachings. |
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