Alchi

Ladakh's monasteries have served as refuges for Buddhist learning as well as storage facilities for imported and locally made Buddhist artwork and antiques. Buddhism first arrived in Ladakh in the past when Kashmir was a Buddhist country, and it has persisted there ever since despite its removal from Kashmir and the losses it experienced in Tibet, the two primary centers of Buddhist culture in the Himalayas. Fortunately, Ladakh's current monasteries are home to hundreds of Tibetan and Kashmiri Buddhist treasures. The enormous Bamiyan Buddha might be the final example left in Afghanistan. In India, nevertheless, this is not the case. In the open air of the Kargil region of Ladakh, six enormous rock-cut Maitreya Buddha statues, each measuring between 30 and 36 feet tall, are present. The magnificent Monastery of Alchi, which is decorated with three enormous images of Avalokiteshvara, Maitreya, and Manjushri, follows the same architectural heritage as Gandhara Art from the ninth to the eleventh century. Buddhist paintings, sculpture-making, and ritual services, which were once practiced in Kashmir, are considered living traditions in Ladakh, in contrast to Central Asian artifacts and manuscripts, which are solely on show in various museums. Mahavairochana Sadhana and other types of Yoga practices can still be seen being practiced at many hermitages dispersed across the vast, desolate territory of Ladakh, which is why this area is now referred to as The Hermit Kingdom.