Hemis Monastery, the largest and wealthiest monastery in Ladakh, is renowned for its annual Hemis Festival, when masked lama dances (cham) depicting the triumph of good over evil draw large crowds against a backdrop of the monastery's ornate courtyards. Once every twelve years, the monastery displays its most sacred thangka, an enormous appliqué depicting Guru Padmasambhava, considered one of the most significant Buddhist artefacts in the region.
Beyond the festival period, Hemis functions as an active centre of Drukpa lineage Buddhist practice, its museum housing a substantial collection of thangkas, statues and ceremonial artefacts, giving visitors a chance to explore Ladakhi Buddhist material culture in considerable depth even outside the main festival dates.
Founded in 1630 under the patronage of Ladakhi king Sengge Namgyal, Hemis grew into the wealthiest and most influential monastery in the region, partly protected from historical raids by its relatively hidden valley location away from the main Indus route.
June or July for the Hemis Festival; otherwise May to September generally.
About 45km from Leh, roughly 1.5 hours by road.
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