Chemday Monastery is one of the ancient monasteries related to Buddhism religion and among those monasteries which still exists and are situated in India. This monastery is supposed to be founded by Stagsang Raschen, the great Lama along with co-operation from Dharma Raja Singey Namgial who acted as a supporter to the Lama for the establishment of this monastery. The monastery is supposed to be founded almost 365 years back by the Lama. The monastery is well settled on the high mountain side ever since its existence in the mid 17th century.

Chemday Monastery is located in the Chemday village which is a part of the Leh district of Ladakh, India and is almost 40 km away from Leh. The monastery is located midst the natural beauty making it a worth watch. Currently over 300 monks are staying in this monastery. The monastery is quite old but still the artistic beauty over this monastery is worth admiration and this is the reason why tourist, not only from India but from around the world makes a visit especially to Chemday village to enjoy the artistic beauty of this stunning monastery. Moreover the infamous sacred and holy picture of the Padmasambhava is another important attraction since this image is quite big, almost covering one storey of the monastery building. Along with it, there is a range of amazingly eye - catching shrines in the complex of this ancient Monastery.

The Chemday Monastery is well famous for the Chemday festival that takes place every year here. This festival takes place on every ninth month according to Tibetan calendar on the two days - 28th as well as 29th of that month. In this festival, sacred and sanctified dance takes place which is an old custom of the monastery and dance custom is carried out on only one of these above mentioned dates. The monks, who perform this consecrated dance, wear a kind of mask on their faces. People from other places are also allowed to take part in this ceremony of dance.

On first day of the festival, this dance and other ceremonies take place. But on the second day of the festival, the famous ‘Mandala Puja’ is carried out in the premises of the monastery and this Puja is believed to be very holy.

Along with it, an initiatory ceremony is also carried out in the monastery during festival. The succeeding reincarnations of the Tagsang Raschen, the great Lama, operate as the chief incumbents.

History

The history of Chemday Monastery is quite old. It goes back directly to almost mid 17th century, precisely saying 365 years ago. It is supposed that this monastery came into existence when it was founded by the Stagsang Raschen, the great Lama along with assistance from Dharma Raja Singey Namgial. Dharma Raja Singey acted as a patron and supporter to the Lama for the establishment of this monastery successfully. The monastery is supposed to be founded almost 365 years back by the Lama.

Architecture

The Chemday Monastery is an astounding and attractive piece of architecture. Since the monastery is more than 350 years old but still majority of its artistic work has been saved and preserved due to continuous actions by Buddhist people. The monastery is a multi storey building. There is a big range of incredibly beautiful shrines in the complex of Chemday Monastery.

This monastery is well accredited for a huge image of Padmasambhava. This infamous sacred and holy picture of the Padmasambhava is quite a big attraction since this image is pretty big, almost covering one storey of the monastery building. The complex of monastery also has some residential area which is for those 300 monks who live permanently in this monastery.

Reaching There

Chemday Monastery is almost 40 km away from the infamous Leh in Ladakh. So to reach Chemday village, one needs to go to Leh. If you are planning to use air transport mode then the airport which will be nearby is Ladakh airport. The Jammu airport is also close, flights from all major cities go there and from here, a private cab can be taken.

But if you want to use rail mode of transportation, then the closest rail line will be the Jammu railway station. But from Jammu it will take almost 2 hectic days to reach Chemday Monastery. Once you reach Jammu railway station, you can hire services from local taxis to reach Chemday Monastery. If you are planning to go by bus, one can take bus from Leh and it’s a total 2 hour journey from Leh to Chemday Monastery. Private cabs or taxis are another option which can be used effectively.