Hemis Monastery at Leh Ladakh With Beautiful Rooftop Views

My visit to Ladakh covered many important destinations and Monasteries.
One of the fond memory I have is of Hemis Monastery and its Rooftop Views. This Himalayan Monastery is very near to Leh.

Since during the first few days, I am supposed to acclimatize and rest, so I wanted to visit a nearby destination . I took a cab and planned a day trip to Hemis Monastery . Destination was just 45 km from Leh.

This place is also famous for the Hemis Festival which I missed by a few weeks. But the rooftop views covered up for everything I missed.

I recommend going here during the initial days. This visit will prepare you for bigger trips in the coming days.

Hemis Monastery was a good decision. I remember walking up the place and my breath was heavy due to initial days of walking in a low oxygen zone. The car reached till the gate of the place. I walked in to listen to prayer hymns and watched beautiful decorations.

I never imagined that the real beauty lies in the rooftop of this monastery. Much cant be explained in words here so check the pictures I took.

Notice in the picture below from Hemis. The first picture is the ground floor of the Monastery but it’s on top of this Himalayan mountain.

As we entered we saw the Sacred Pole and the Courtyard.
If the rooftop was so beautiful so was the ground floor!
I love the way there’s such a long prayer flag put up in the center of the Monastery.

Zoom in and see that it has pictures and written sacred notes which spread the prayer across as the wind touches the flag and moves out.

In my next picture below , look at the Grand Statue and that Shoe!

This grand Statue is of great Guru Rinpoche also known as Lord Padmasambhava. He is known as the reincarnation of Buddha. As believed his life mission was to improve the spiritual condition of all living beings.

The Hemis Festival is extremely famous and attracts many tourists to Hemis Monastery. This festival is dedicated to this Guru.Masked dance performances and music in the courtyard are mesmerizing. Trumpets drums and dance will leave you in trance for sure.

Hemis rooftop was one of the most beautiful rooftops I have ever been to. Already Leh was at such high altitude and standing on this roof I felt on top of the world.
Notice the pictures below where I was standing on the rooftop of this beautiful Buddhist Monastery in Leh, India. No words can describe this beauty where the Himalayan mountains were surrounding me. It was like a fairytale, reminding me that India is incredible, isn’t it?

Another thought that I had was that the monks here live such a tough life and so do locals in Ladakh.
For the most part of the year, the temperature is below minus thirty degrees. They don’t have central heating and amenities like the west. The roads are blocked everything is turned white in the snow. They are cut off from the world and all they do is pray for us.

There is another Buddha Statue you must see when you reach the roof top of this Monastery .

The Map from Leh to Hemis is around one hour. This means a day trip to this monastery during the initial days will be the perfect option. If you want to start a Bike Trip, this place is going to give you the right feeler, to begin with.

Before moving to the next destination here are two Vlog from Hemis Monastery. The first one is about the beautiful road trip we took. The second video is giving the views I witnessed at the beautiful rooftop and inside the temple.

I hope you will enjoy the trip more from the above insights. Do share with us about your experience.