Forts, Palaces, and Mansions of Ladakh

 Text and Photographs by Mr. Sachin Vaidya Shey Palace is world famous for its Sakyamuni Buddha statue (seated) - the height being 7.5 metres! The statue is totally indoors. It is a copper and brass statue plated with gold, silver studded with gems and precious stones. The statue was reportedly built by Nepalese craftsmen. Shey Palace was built by King Deldan Namgyal around 1650. A board put by Archaeological Survey of India depicts brief history of the Palace. In addition to Leh Palace (separate post exists in the same blog 'Forts, Palaces, and Mansions of Ladakh'),  Shey Palace was used as royal residence. However after defeated by Dogra Rule, the royal family was reduced to a noble family and had to vacate both the palaces; the family built and shifted to Stok Palace (separate post exists in the same blog 'Forts, Palaces, and Mansions of Ladakh') in 1834. Due to its proximity to Leh (15 km south),  Shey Palace is popular among tourists. Shey Palace is much sm...

Text and Photographs by Mr. Sachin Vaidya Leh Palace (Lehchen Pelkhar) is the most popular tourist destination in Ladakh. Ladakh is an union territory in India. However, Tsemo Castle, even though near to  Leh Palace,  is not visited by many tourists.  Leh town is at an altitude of 11,562 ft. There are two ways of approaching Tsemo Castle. Firstly, tourists can visit Leh Palace and then walk / drive to  Tsemo Castle. The route to  Leh Palace has been explained in my post (within the same blog) on  Leh Palace. The second route is walking from Sankar Gompa. (Buddhist monastery is called Gompa in Ladakh). This is a long route and can be explored after minimum two nights acclimatization in Leh. Following is the deity at  Tsemo  Gompa: Tsemo Gompa and  Tsemo   Castle are adjacent to each other. They are visible from terrace of Leh Palace.  Tsemo Gompa is also called Namgyal  Tsemo Gompa. Namgyal  Tsemo Gompa, or the Te...