Dukhang Yokma

Kashmir & Ladakh


The Dukhang Yokma, Karsha Gompa's main prayer hall, was demolished in 2009 due to irreparable structural damage. In so doing, an astonishing discovery was made: the mummified body of the monastery's 14th-century founder, Lobon-Dode Rinchen, found to be barely decomposed. The dukhang has since been rebuilt to the original plan, with salvaged wall panels now displayed in a museum room (below), and Lobon-Dode Rinchen's face visible if you shine a light through a little 'window' in a jewel-encrusted metal stupa.


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