Famous Buddhist Monasteries in India

The monastery is a building or buildings occupied by a community of monks living under religious vows. Buddhist religious life is revolving around ‘Sanghas’ which means an “Orders of Disciplines“. Buddhists believe that the spiritual quest of monks benefits the entire community and their rituals bring prosperity and protection.

Hemis Monastery

• It is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery (gompa) of the Drukpa Lineage, in Hemis, Ladakh, India.
• It is situated 45 kms South of Leh in Jammu and Kashmir State, on the West bank of river Indus.
• This monastery is famous for the annual festival of Guru Padmasambhava which is held in June-July.

Tabo Monastery

• It is located in the Tabo village of Spiti Valley, Himachal Pradesh, India.
• It was founded in 996 CE in the Tibetan year of the Fire Ape by the Tibetan Buddhist lotsawa (translator) Rinchen Zangpo (Mahauru Ramabhadra), on behalf of the king of western Himalayan Kingdom of Guge, Yeshe-O.

Tsuglakhang Monastery

• Tsuklakhang Palace or Tsuklakhang Royal Chapel and Monastery is a Buddhist palatial monastery in Gangtok, Sikkim, India.

Namgyal Monastery

• It is the Personal Monastery of 14th Dalai Lama located in Mcleod Ganj, Dharamsala, HP, India.
• It is founded by third Dalai Lama Gendun Gyatso in either 1564 or 1565.
• Namgyal Monastery was renamed in honour of the female long-life deity Namgyälma in 1571.
• As per Namgyal website claim, it has nearly 200 Monks representing all four main Tibetan monastic lineages.

Thiksey Monastery

• It is a gompa (monastery) affiliated with the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism.
• It is located on top of a hill in Thiksey village, approximately 19 kilometres east of Leh in Ladakh, India.
• It is noted for its resemblance to the Potala palace in Lhasa, Tibet.
• It is a twelve-story complex and houses many items of Buddhist art such as stupas, statues, thangkas, wall paintings and swords.

Tawang Monastery

• It is located in Tawang city of Tawang district in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, is the largest monastery in India and second largest in the world after the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet.

Bylakuppe Monastery (Namdraling Monastery)

• It is the largest teaching center of the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism in the world.
• It is located in Bylakuppe, in the district of Mysore of the state of Karnataka.
• This monastery is a home to a sangha community of over five thousand lamas.
• It is the largest teaching centre of Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism with a junior high school named Yeshe Wodsal Sherab Raldri Ling, a religious college (or shedra for both monks and nuns) and hospital.

Shashur Monastery

• It is a Buddhist monastery of the Drugpa sect in Lahaul and Spiti, Himachal Pradesh, northern India.
• It was built in the 17th century by Lama Deva Gyatsho of Zanskar who was a missionary of Nawang Namgyal, the king of Bhutan.

Mindrolling Monastery

• It is one of the six major monasteries of the Nyingma School in Tibet.
• It was founded by Rigzin Terdak Lingpa in 1676.
• It is located in Zhanang County, Shannan Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China, approximately 43 kilometres east of the Lhasa airport, on the south side of the Tsangpo river.

Ghum Monastery

• It is located in Ghum, West Bengal.
• In 1875 AD, Lama Sherab Gyatso founded this monastery.
• It is belongs to the Gelukpa or the Yellow Hat sect and is known for its 15 feet (4.6 m)-high statue of the Maitreya Buddha.

Kye Gompa Monastery

• It is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery located on top of a hill at an altitude of 4,166 metres above sea level, close to the Spiti River, in the Spiti Valley of Himachal Pradesh, Lahaul and Spiti district, India.
• It is the biggest monastery of Spiti Valley and a religious training centre for Lamas.

Dhankar Monastery

• It is a buddhist temple located at an elevation of 3894 metres in the district of Lahaul and Spiti in India.
• It is the second highest in the world after Ki Monastery and an important centre of Buddhist learning since the seventh century.
• Dhankar Monastery was once the capital of Spiti in 17th century.

Lingdum Monastery

• It is a Buddhist monastery near Ranka in Sikkim, North East India, about an hour’s drive from Gangtok.
• It follows the Zurmang Kagyu tradition.

Alchi Gompa Monastery

• It is situated in Alchi village of Leh District, Ladakh.
• It is administered by the Likir Monastery.
• As per historian, it was constructed by Guru Rinchen Zangpo between 958 and 1055 AD.

Phugtal Monastery

• It is a buddhist monastery located in the remote Lungnak valley in the Zanskar region of Ladakh, Northern India.
• It is one of the only buddhist monasteries in Ladakh that can only be reached by foot.
• It is built around a cave in Ladakh which was believed to be visited by Sage, Saints and Scholars 2500 years ago.

Shankar Monastery

• It is located near Leh in Ladakh.
• It is a daughter-establishment of Spituk Monastery and the residence of the Abbot of Spituk, the Venerable Kushok Bakula, who is the senior incarnate lama of Ladakh due to his ancient lineage and personal authority.

Matho Monastery

• It is a Tibetan Buddhist Monastery situated on the bank of Indus river.
• It is located 26 kilometres southeast of Leh in Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, northern India.
• It is affiliated with the Saskya order. It was founded by Lama Tugpa Dorjay in 16th century.

Nako Monastery

• It is situated in Kinnor district of Himachal Pradesh.
• It was established in 996 AD. It is one of the oldest Monasteries on the ancient routes followed by Lamas over centuries.
• It was established in the first half of eleventh century by Lochen Rinchen Zangpo.

Rumtek Monastery

• It is also called the Dharmachakra centre. It is a gompa (Buddhist ecclesiastical fortifications of learning, lineage and sadhana).
• It is located near Gangtok, Sikkim.
• It was built under the direction of Changchub Dorje (12^th Karmapa Lama in the mid-1700s).

Pemayangtse Monastery

• The Pemayangtse Monastery is a Buddhist monastery in Pemayangtse, near Pelling in the northeastern Indian state of Sikkim, located 110 km west of Gangtok.
• Planned, designed and founded by Lama Lhatsun Chempo in 1647.
• It is one of the oldest and premier monasteries of Sikkim, also the most famous in Sikkim.

Gonjang Monastery

• It was established by Tingkye Gonjang Rimpoche in 1981.
• It is located in the Sikkim, India.

Karzok Buddhist Monastery

• It is a Buddhist Monastery belonging to the Drukpa lineage located near Korzok village in Leh District of Ladakh, India.
• It was founded by Kunga Lodro Ningpo about 300 years ago.
• This monastery is situated on the northwestern bank of Ladakh’s Tso Moriri (lake), one of the highest lakes in the world of its size.

Bharatpur Buddhist Monastery Complex, West Bengal

• In the recent excavations, the Structural Complex of the Buddhist Monastery was found in the continuation of large Stupa, Black and Red ware pottery, and Sculptures discovered from excavation done 50 years ago at the same site in West Bengal.
• An extended Monastery complex was found in an excavation done by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in West Bengal’s Paschim Bardhaman district.
• The outer wall of the monastery, containing nine layers of brick and a small circular structure has been revealed.
• Buddhism in West Bengal: 
  • The region was a bastion of the ancient Buddhist Mauryan and Pala empires when the Mahayana and Vajrayana schools flourished. South-Eastern Bengal was ruled by the medieval Buddhist Kingdom of Mrauk U during the 16th and 17th centuries.
• Significance of Excavation:
  • The site was initially excavated fifty years ago between 1972 and 1975 when archaeologists from ASI found a Buddhist Stupa at the site.
  • Excavations can help in finding the spread of Buddhism in the South West Bengal region.
  • The discovery is also significant since black and red ware pottery from the chalcolithic age makes the village settlement on river Damodar possible. 
  • The complex makes the site religious while the settlement makes the site secular in nature.
  • The stupa found is large compared to stupas found from other Buddhist sites in the state like Karnasubarna in Murshidabad, Moghalamari in Paschim Medinipur, and Jagjivanpur in Malda where smaller votive stupas were found.