Lhalung Monastery

Spiti


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.


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