Lamayuru Monastery
Lamayuru is a Tibetan Buddhist Gompa in Kargil District, Western Ladakh, situated on the Srinagar - Kargil - Leh road 15km east of the Fatu La pass, at a height of 3510m.
Founded by the Indian scholar Mahasiddhacarya Naropa in the 11th century (allegedly on the site of a dried-up lake) after spending many years meditating, Lamayuru is the largest and oldest gompa in Ladakh with a population of around 150 permament monks resident. It has, in the past, housed up to 400 monks, many of which are now based in gompas in surrounding villages. Lamayuru is host to two annual masked dance festivals, in the second and fifth months of the Tibetan lunar calendar, when all the monks from these surrounding gompas gather together to pray.