Lhalung Monastery


Near the top of Lhalung village, this outwardly modest monastery is actually an antique gem. Beneath a yellow painted tin roof, the very atmospheric Serkhang Gompa (main chapel) has interior walls lavished on three sides with an extraordinary array of colourful mud-plaster sculptures. They're so old that locals claim they were made by God not man.

Across the lawn beside a collapsing mud-brick structure is the small cubic Langkharpo. Inside is a four-sided statue of the white deity, atop a plinth of snow lions: unique if less-accomplished in terms of divine workmanship. Light candles for ₹10 each. If the chapels are closed, ask for the key at the Serkhanh Old Age Home.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Dhankar Tso

3.88 MILES

Offering beautiful reflections of the mountainscape plus chorten, this small lake sits high above Dhankar, accessed on foot by a steep 2km path that…

2. Dhankar Gompa

4.04 MILES

Like a series of whitewashed limpets, the 1200-year-old Dhankar Gompa clings precariously to an eroded cliff-edge rock pinnacle, high above the beautiful…

3. Dhankar Fort-Palace

4.05 MILES

On the very crown of the gompa crag stands the crumbling fort-cum-palace that gave Dhankar its name (khar means 'citadel' and dhak means 'cliff'). Now…

4. New Monastery

4.06 MILES

The lamas who remain at Dhankar no longer inhabit the old gompa, having moved in 2009 to the red-and-gold New Monastery, 800m away around the hillside.

5. Caves

9.27 MILES

A number of small caves, whose openings are easily visible on the hillside just above the main road, were once part of the old monastery complex. Access…

6. Tabo Gompa

9.35 MILES

Founded in AD 996, and retaining five sub-temples dating back over 900 years, Tabo Gompa is reckoned to be the oldest continuously functioning Buddhist…

7. Monastery Museum

9.35 MILES

A new but very much traditionally styled extension to the old gompa's Zal-ma is nearing completion and will eventually house a museum of the monastery's…

8. Library

9.36 MILES

To enrich your knowledge of Tibet and Buddhism, discover this great little reference library hidden away upstairs within the monastery guesthouse building…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "india/lhalung/attractions/lhalung-monastery/a/poi-sig/1352848/1334900",
      "position": "superzone"
    }