Thiksey Monastery 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 kiiometres (12mi) east of Leh in Ladakh, India. It is noted for its resemblance to the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet and is the largest gompa in central Ladakh. The monastery is located at an altitude of 3,600 metres (11,800 ft) in the Indus Valley. It is a twelve-stony complex and houses many items of Buddhist art such as stupas, statues, thangkas, wall paintings and swords.

One of the main points of interest is the Maitreya (future Buddha) Temple erected to commemorate visit of the 14th Dalai Lama to this monastery in 1970. It contains a 15 metres (49 ft) high statue of Maitreya Buddha. He is unusually portrayed as seated in the lotus position rather than his usual representations as standing or in a sitting posture on a high throne. As the largest Buddha statue deified in the monastery, it took four years to craft. It was made by the local artists under the master Nawang Tsering of the Central Institute of Buddhist Studies (Leh) - in clay, gold paint and copper.

Photo: Payal Vora