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| Amit Basu Photography / Getty Images |
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| Amit Basu Photography / Getty Images |
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To get to Likir monastery and school, you travel west on the beautiful Leh-Srinagar highway. You travel along the Indus river, through beautiful mountain gorges. After about 32 miles from Leh, you go northwards for some two miles, starting at a junction before Saspol. If you happen to see a shop called 'Likir Bada', you have already come too far. It happened to us.
Although Likir is relatively isolated, it was once on a major trade route which travelled via Tingmosgang, Hemis and Likir to Leh. Today none of that remains, except the isolation. The road climbs from Leh-Srinagar highway through beautiful hillsides. This moves away from the Indus river northwards. Soon you see the Likir monastery at a distance, with snow-capped mountains behind it. There is a smallish village around the monastery, but the monastery takes up the pride of place on the hilltop. Its a splendid location. Its wonderful to marvel at the greenery in the middle of the stark high desert landscape.
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| Amit Basu Photography / Getty Images |
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The pride of place in the monastery is taken by a very large gilded statue of Maitreya Buddha. The statue is exquisite, and sits on a colorful pedestal. It is 75 feet tall, and is relatively new, having been built in 1999.
The monastery has some hundred Buddhist monks and a school with almost thirty students. There was a lot of life around the monastery, with children playing, and many monks of different ages around. It was great way to end the day for us in Ladakh.
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