Hemis Monastery — Ladakh's Drukpa monastery and its June festival
What it is
Hemis Monastery is a Drukpa-lineage monastery on the bank of the Indus, re-established in 1672 by King Sengge Namgyal. Wikipedia gives its distance from Leh as 45 km in the lead and 40 km in the next sentence; our routing measures about 33 km and 43 minutes by road.
Photos: Stanzin1945 (CC BY-SA 4.0) — via Wikimedia Commons, resized.
The festival
The annual Hemis festival honours Padmasambhava and is held in early June. The days follow the Tibetan calendar, so check them each year.
What to see
Paintings of the Eighty-Four Mahasiddhas line a courtyard gallery; they date from the 17th century and use ground mineral pigments. Wikipedia also records a late 19th-century claim that the monastery's library held a hidden gospel, and says historians regard the story as invented.
Combine it with
The monastery day ends here, after Shey and Thiksey. Read things to do in Leh.
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Questions people ask
What is Hemis Monastery?
A Drukpa-lineage monastery on the bank of the Indus, re-established in 1672 by King Sengge Namgyal, though Wikipedia says it existed before the 11th century. It lies 40 to 45 km from Leh by Wikipedia's two figures; our routing measures about 33 km and 43 minutes by road.
When is the Hemis festival?
In early June, in honour of Padmasambhava by Wikipedia's account. The exact days follow the Tibetan calendar and change each year. Expect crowds and full roads, and check the dates with the district authorities or the monastery before you plan a visit.
What is there to see?
Wikipedia says paintings of the Eighty-Four Mahasiddhas line a courtyard gallery, made in the 17th century with ground mineral pigments. It also records a late 19th-century claim about a hidden manuscript, which historians regard as invented. We have no verified opening hours, so ask locally.