Sights in Jammu & Kashmir
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Dal Lake
Dal Lake is Srinagar's jewel, a vast, mirror-flat sheet of water reflecting the carved wooden balconies of the houseboats and the misty peaks of the Pir Panjal mountains. Flotillas of gaily painted shikaras (gondola-like taxi boats) skiff around the lake, transporting goods to market, children to school and travellers from houseboat to shore. If you want to photograph the lake, bring a long lens and a polarising filter to cut down the glare from the water.
Most visitors to Srinagar stay out on Dal Lake in one of the delightful houseboats left behind from the Raj, but landlubbers can hire shikaras for tours around the lake, visiting floating gardens and the floating flower…
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Khanqah of Shah-i-Hamadan
With frontage and interiors covered in elaborately coloured wood carvings and papier-mâché reliefs, this distinctively spired 1730s Khanqah of Shah-i-Hamadan is Srinagar’s most beautiful historic building. Non-Muslim visitors can peek through the door but may not enter. The building stands on the site of one of Kashmir’s first mosques, founded by Persian saint Mir Sayed Ali Hamadani. Nicknamed ‘Shah’, Hamadani had arrived in 1372, one of 700 refugees fleeing Timur’s conquest of Iran. He is said to have converted 37,000 people to Sufi Islam, and it’s also likely that his retinue introduced Kashmiris to the Persian art of fine carpet-making.
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Stok Palace
Ladakh’s former royal family were stripped of their power in 1846 and now live a comparatively modest life, dividing their time between a private mansion in Manali and the stately Stok Palace. Vaguely potala-like and with wobbly, colourful window frames, the palace is photogenic despite a giant telecommunication tower that looms directly behind. The stylish palace cafeteria has a great open terrace. Above, several rooms on two levels form the palace museum displaying family treasures, including the queen’s ancient turquoise-and-gold yub-jhur (crown) and a photo of the young king in sneakers.
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Leh Palace
Construction of the nine-storey dun-coloured Leh Palace started in 1553. Built by the Buddhist kings of Ladakh, it was once the world’s highest building and bears more than a passing similarity to the Potala Palace in Lhasa (Tibet). The very sturdy walls are mostly unadorned and a few interior sections remain in a state of partial collapse; only the palace prayer room gives any sense of former grandeur. Nonetheless it’s gently thrilling to weave your way through the maze of dark corridors, hidden stairways and makeshift ladders to reach the rooftop for great views across the city. Carry a torch and watch out for holes in the floor.
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Makhdoom Sahib Shrine
Hindus believe that towering Hari Parbat Hill was the island where Sharika (Durga) defeated the lake demon Jalodabhava, while Muslims pay homage at the vast Makhdoom Sahib Shrine, dedicated to a Sufi saint who helped the spread of Islam in Kashmir. A flight of stone steps climbs up to the shrine and descends towards Dal Lake, passing the ruined mosque of Akhund Mulla Shah, built by Shah Jahan's son Dara Shikoh in 1649.
The hill is topped by the imposing Hari Parbat Fort, now occupied by the Indian Army. Around the base of the hill are the remains of the old city walls, built by Akbar in the 1590s.
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Hari Parbat Hill
Hindus believe that towering Hari Parbat Hill was the island where Sharika (Durga) defeated the lake demon Jalodabhava, while Muslims pay homage at the vast Makhdoom Sahib shrine, dedicated to a Sufi saint who helped the spread of Islam in Kashmir. A flight of stone steps climbs up to the shrine and descends towards Dal Lake, passing the ruined mosque of Akhund Mulla Shah, built by Shah Jahan's son Dara Shikoh in 1649.
The hill is topped by the imposing Hari Parbat Fort, now occupied by the Indian Army. Around the base of the hill are the remains of the old city walls, built by Akbar in the 1590s.
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Spituk Gompa
Founded in the late 14th century as See-Thub (‘Exemplary’) Monastery, the extensive Gelukpa-order Spituk Gompa is incongruously perched overlooking the end of Leh airport (don’t photograph the militarily sensitive runway, soldiers are watching). The gompa’s multiple mudbrick buildings tumble appealingly down a steep hillock towards Spituk village on the Indus riverbank. Behind its central, gilt-roofed Skodong Lakhang shrine, the very colourful Chikang hosts a yellow- hatted statue of Tsongkhapa (1357–1419), who inspired Gelukpa Buddhism.
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Stakna Gompa
Small but visually impressive, the 1618 Stakna Gompa crowns a rocky outcrop just 800m across the Indus from Km449 (where Leh–Thiksey buses terminate), though the gompa’s winding access road adds another 900m. The narrow suspension bridge is just wide enough for small taxi-vans. Off the gompa’s small central courtyard, four rooms with vivid new Tantric murals can be visited. Behind the main prayer hall, smaller subshrines retain 400-year-old sandalwood statues, original frescoes and statuettes of the Bhutanese lamas who founded the monastery.
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Thekchhok Gompa
Chemrey village is dominated by the beautifully proportioned Thekchhok Gompa. A maze of pathways leads up to the main complex where the central 17th-century prayer hall has wonderfully wobbly wooden pillars. The Lamalakhang above has murals atmospherically blackened to semi-invisibility by butter-lamp smoke. On the penultimate floor the Gurulakhang has contrastingly vivid murals and a 3m-high golden Padmasambhava statue encrusted with turquoise ornamentation.
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Likir Gompa
15th-century Likir Gompa very photogenically covers a hillside with archetypal Tibetan structures. The first prayer hall to the right on entry has seats allocated for both the Dalai Lama and his brother, Likir’s honourary head lama. After two more colourful prayer halls you climb to the cute, one-room museum. The gompa is backed by a giant gilded 20th-century Maitreya statue that looks great from afar, though it’s peeling and looks rather gaudy closer up.
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Naropa Royal Palace
Once Ladakh’s summer capital, Shey is an attractively green, pond-dappled oasis from which rises a central dry rocky ridge, inscribed with roadside Buddha carvings. The ridge is topped by the small if photogenic Naropa Royal Palace. This mini-potala structure is undergoing considerable reconstruction, but its central shrine remains a very holy place, containing an inscrutably smirking two-storey gilded copper Buddha, originally installed in 1645.
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Wanla Gompa
Above Wanla village, tiny medieval Wanla Gompa is dramatically perched on a towering knife-edge ridge flanked by two shattered tower remnants of a now-destroyed 14th-century fortress. Its carved porch is reminiscent of Alchi’s and a single, spookily dark chamber contains three large statues backed by ancient smoke-blackened murals. If you’re driving to Lamayuru, Wanla is an easy 7km detour off the NH1D road: turn south at the colourful new photong (ceremonial residence).
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Matho Gompa
Sakya-Buddhist Matho Gompa is perched on a colourfully stratified ridge above Matho village. Most of the early-15th-century monastery has been replaced by more modern structures in recent years, but it’s still worth the trip for the stupendous valley views. During the monastery’s famous Matho Nagrang festival, blindfolded monk-oracles perform acrobatics, engage in ritual acts of self-mutilation and make predictions for the coming year.
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Thiksey Gompa
The glorious Thiksey Gompa covers a large rocky outcrop with layered, whitewashed Tibetan-style buildings. It’s one of Ladakh’s biggest and most recognisable monasteries, a veritable monastic village incorpor-ating shops, a school, restaurant and hotel. Near the upper car park, the well-labelled monastery museum displays Tantric artefacts, some carved from human bones. Notice the 10 weapons symbolically used to combat evil spirits.
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Sankar Gompa
The timeless two-storey Gelukpa Sankar Gompa takes you between stone walls and attractive Ladakhi farmhouses following little streamlets and passing a pretty rural stupa. Sankar’s small, main prayer room features a portrait of Kushok Bakula Rinpoche (died 2004), Ladakh’s former head lama. His recently identified reincarnation will eventually move to the gilt-roofed photang (official residence) opposite the monastery.
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Community Centre
A visit to this thought-provoking community centre should be compulsory for all visitors to Ladakh! It campaigns to educate locals and foreigners alike about the remarkable balance of traditional Ladakhi society. Screenings of the excellent hour-long documentary Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh (admission by donation) at 3pm Monday to Saturday are followed by a discussion. Various other films screen at 11am.
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Shanti Stupa
Built by Japanese monks to promote world peace, this large, hilltop stupa has brightly coloured reliefs on its mid-levels and is topped by a spired white hemisphere (smoking is prohibited here). The greatest attraction is the stunning view of Leh. Ideally make the breathless 15-minute climb around 5.30pm when golden afternoon light still illuminates the city, while the steps up from Changspa are in cooling shadow.
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Rangdum Gompa
Set in a wild, big-sky valley, wind-scoured Rangdum is the first Buddhist village heading for Zanskar. Eastwards the horizon is an arid pastiche of oddly contorted strata fronted by the dot of Rangdum Gompa, 5km away, looking like a tiny island floating above the valley floor. The gompa’s 25 yellow-hatted monks are outnumbered by monastery donkeys, who sleep inside at night.
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Phyang Gompa
Pretty Phyang is an emerald splash of tree-hemmed barley fields layered for miles up a side valley. There are stupendous views back towards the snow-topped pyramid of Stok Kangri. The white-and-ochre Phyang Gompa photogenically dominates the village centre despite some earthquake damage. Behind, dzos graze on idyllic meadowland.
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Tomb of the Mother of Zain-ul-Abidin
Hidden away in the bazaar streets between Zaina Kadal and the river, this unusual brick mausoleum, the Tomb of the Mother of Zain-ul-Abidin marks the final resting place of the favourite wife of Sultan Sikander, built over the ruins of a Hindu temple destroyed by Sultan Sikander. There's an interesting medieval cemetery behind the shrine.
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Yungdrung Gompa
Yungdrung Gompa is very photogenic. Behind glass within the gompa’s main prayer hall is a tiny cave in which 11th-century mystic Naropa meditated. Before that, legend claims, this whole area was the bottom of a deep lake whose waters receded miraculously thanks to the powerful prayers of Buddhist saint Arahat Nimagung.
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Raghunath Mandir
The heart of the older city is Raghunath Mandir, fronted by a gilded sikhara (Hindu temple-spire) and surrounded by pavilions containing thousands of what look like grey pebbles set in concrete; in fact, these are saligrams (ammonite fossils) representing the myriad deities of the Hindu pantheon.
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Pari Mahal
Pari Mahal is set amid palace ruins high above the lakeshore. Viewed from afar the ensemble looks especially intriguing when floodlit at night. By day it’s worth the long, steep autorickshaw ride for the fabulous lake views more than for the gardens themselves. Bring ID for serious police checks on your way.
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Awantiswarmi Vishnu Temple
At the roadside in Awantipora, 29km before Srinagar, is the chunky ruin of 9th-century Awantiswarmi Vishnu Temple, with stylistic similarities to the Hindu temples of Southeast Asia. A smaller, similarly ancient Shiva Temple, 1km west, can be visited on the same ticket.
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Stok Abagon
Across from the Stok palace, a short alley leads to the 350-year-old Stok Abagon, once home to the royal physician. Today the part-furnished mudbrick house is very decrepit, but caretaker-guide Jigmet offers interesting short tours by the light of his mobile phone (better to bring a torch).
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