Hanle Monastery is a 17th-century

gompa A Gompa or Gönpa ( "remote place", Sanskrit ''araṇya''), also known as ling (), is a Buddhism, Buddhist ecclesiastical fortification of learning, lineage and sādhanā that may be understood as a conflation of a fortification, a vihara and a ...

of the

Drukpa Lineage The Drukpa Kagyu (), or simply Drukpa, sometimes called either Dugpa or "Red Hat sect" in older sources,

of the

Kagyu The ''Kagyu'' school, also transliterated as ''Kagyü'', or ''Kagyud'' (), which translates to "Oral Lineage" or "Whispered Transmission" school, is one of the main schools (''chos lugs'') of Tibetan (or Himalayan) Buddhism. The Kagyu lineag ...

school of

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

located in the

Hanle Valley Hanle (also spelt Anle) is a large historic village in the Indian union territory of Ladakh. It is the site of the 17th century Hanle Monastery (gompa) of the Drukpa Kagyu branch of Tibetan Buddhism. Hanle is located in the Hanle River valley ...

Leh district Leh district is a district in the union territory of Ladakh, India. With an area of 45,110 ''km'2'', it is the second largest district in the country smaller only to Kutch. It is bounded on the north by Gilgit-Baltistan's Kharmang and Gha ...

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu and ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

on an old branch of the ancient Ladakh-

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

trade route. The valley is home to about a thousand people, with about 300 people living in Hanle village. The monastery is home to about ten monks while another 33 or so come regularly for prayers. It is only from the disputed frontier between India and Chinese-controlled Tibet. The main monastery, one of the largest and best known of Ladakh's monasteries, was built under the patronage of the Ladakhi king

Sengge Namgyal Sengge Namgyal (''Sen-ge-rnam-rgyal'', c. 1570–1642) was a 17th-century Namgyal dynasty King of Ladakh, India from 1616 to his death in 1642. A Buddhist, he was noted for his immense work in building monasteries, palaces and shrines in Ladakh ...

(r. c. 1616-1642 CE) with the assistance of the famous Tibetan lama and traveler Taktsang Répa Ngakwang Gyatso (). It was the first to be associated with the Drukpa Lineage and which, under the patronage of the Namgyal family, became very important in Ladakh, functioning as a serious rival to the reformed

Gelug file:DalaiLama0054 tiny.jpg, 240px, 14th Dalai Lama, The 14th Dalai Lama (center), the most influential figure of the contemporary Gelug tradition, at the 2003 Kalachakra ceremony, Bodh Gaya, Bodhgaya (India). The Gelug (, also Geluk; "virtuous ...

school. The monasteries in Hanle,

Hemis Hemis, also spelled Hamis, is a village in the Leh district of Ladakh, India. It is located in the Kharu tehsil, 40 km southeast of Leh town on the Leh-Manali Highway and under-construction Bilaspur–Leh line. Hemis is well known for ...

, Chemrey and

Stakna Stakna is a village in the Leh district of Ladakh, India. It is located in the Leh tehsil, on the banks of the Indus River. The Stakna Monastery is located here. Demographics According to the 2011 census of India The 2011 Census of In ...

all belong to the Drukpa school. Sengge Namgyal died at Hanle on his return from an expedition against the

Mongols The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal membe ...

, who had occupied Tsang and were threatening Ladakh. Outside donations established the Tashi Choeling ("Auspicious Dharma Centre") in 1983 providing support for resident

nuns A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

(who numbered 47 in 2003). In a January, 2004 article it is said to have had only 10 resident

monks A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedicat ...

with 33 coming regularly for prayers.Lang and Klum (2004), p. 90. It is also home to the

Indian Astronomical Observatory The Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO) is a high-altitude astronomy station located in Hanle, India and operated by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics. Situated in the Western Himalayas at an elevation of 4,500 meters (14,764 ft), the ...

. The location of both the village and the observatory are highly sensitive due to the close proximity of the

an /

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

border and special permission is needed to visit either by the

government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

Fukche Fukche Advanced Landing Ground is an airfield in the Demchok sector of the union territory of Ladakh, India. It was built shortly before the 1962 Sino-Indian War and was revived in 2008. It is located adjacent to Koyul, 34 km northwest of Demc ...

airport is away and

Ukdungle Ukdungle is a small Indian Army military compound entirely contained within a 40 by 70 meter area in Leh district, Ladakh in northern India, 48 km west of Demchok village on the Line of Actual Control with Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd'' ...

is close by.

Footnotes

References

* Lang, Karen E. and photos by Mattias Klum. "In their own world: The sacred community of India's forbidden Hanle Valley." ''National Geographic Magazine''. January 2004, pp. 88–99. * Rizvi, Janet (1996). ''Ladakh: Crossroads of High Asia. Second Edition''. (1996). Oxford University Press, New Delhi. . {{Ladakh Buddhist monasteries in Ladakh Drukpa Kagyu monasteries and temples