Hemis, also spelled Hamis, is a village in the

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. It is located in the Kharu

tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

, 40 km southeast of Leh town on the Leh-Manali Highway and under-construction

Bilaspur–Leh line Bilaspur–Manali-Leh line is an under-construction high-elevation all-weather broad gauge railway track connecting Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh to Leh in Ladakh union territory of India. It will connect major hill towns of Bilaspur, Mandi, K ...

. Hemis is well known for the

Hemis monastery Hemis Monastery is a Himalayan Buddhist monastery (''gompa'') of the Drukpa Kagyu, Drukpa Lineage, in Hemis, Ladakh, India. Situated 45 km from Leh, it was re-established in 1672 by the Ladakhi king Sengge Namgyal. The annual Hemis festiv ...

that was established in 1672 AD by 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 ...

. The village hosts a colorful festival held in July. It is close to the

Hemis National Park Hemis National Park is a high-elevation national park in Ladakh, India. Globally famous for its snow leopards, it is believed to have the highest density of them in any protected area in the world. It is the only national park in India that is n ...

, an area that is home to the endangered

snow leopard The snow leopard (''Panthera uncia''), also known as the ounce, is a Felidae, felid in the genus ''Panthera'' native to the mountain ranges of Central Asia, Central and South Asia. It is listed as Vulnerable species, Vulnerable on the IUCN Red ...

. The national park was created in 1981.

Hemis Monastery

Hemis Monastery already existed before the 11th century. Nāropā, the pupil of the yogi

Tilopa Tilopa (Prakrit; Sanskrit: Talika or Tilopadā; 988–1069) was an Indian Buddhist monk in the tantric Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. He lived along the Ganges River, with wild ladies as a tantric practitioner and mahasiddha. He practice ...

, and teacher of the translator

Marpa The Modification and Replacement Parts Association is the Washington, D.C.-based trade association that represents manufacturers of government-approved after market aircraft parts. These aircraft parts are often known as PMA parts, from the acron ...

was connected with this monastery. A translation of Naropa's biography has been found in Hemis monastery. It has been translated by A. Grünwedel (Năro und Tilo, Festschrift Ernst Kuhn, München 1916). In 1887,

Nicolas Notovitch Shulim or Nikolai Aleksandrovich Notovich (russian: Николай Александрович Нотович) (August 13, 1858 – after 1916), known in the West as Nicolas Notovitch, was a Crimean Jewish adventurer who claimed to be a Russian ar ...

wrote a book claiming to be the translation of a document held in Hemis Library that states Jesus had spent his unknown years at the Hemis monastery.

Other attractions

* Hemis National Park: Inhabited by a number of snow leopards, Hemis National Park is located at an elevation of around 3000 – 6000 m and is spread across more than 4000 km². Apart from being a home to many rare and endangered species of flora and fauna, this National Park is the second-largest protected area after

Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve The Nanda Devi National Park or Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, established in 1982 is a List of national parks of India, national park situated around the peak of Nanda Devi (7816 m) in Chamoli district, Chamoli Garhwal district of Uttarakhand, ...

. With no motor vehicles allowed in or near the park, you can trek your way up to this place during the months of June to Octobe

http://www.india.com/travel/hemis/] * Gotsang Gompa: A tranquil and quiet place, Gotsang

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 ...

is located close to the

Hemis Monastery Hemis Monastery is a Himalayan Buddhist monastery (''gompa'') of the Drukpa Kagyu, Drukpa Lineage, in Hemis, Ladakh, India. Situated 45 km from Leh, it was re-established in 1672 by the Ladakhi king Sengge Namgyal. The annual Hemis festiv ...

. A roadless Buddhist Center, Gotsang Gompa has two main temple buildings and is reachable via a hiking trail from Hemis Gomp

* Stakna Monastery: Often referred to as Stakna Monastery, Stakna Gompa (literal translation: Tiger's Nose), this monastery is perched atop a hill shaped like a tiger's nose, thus the name. Located along the banks of the

Indus River The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...

, this monastery is situated at a distance of 25 km from

Leh Leh () ( lbj, ) is the joint capital and largest city of Ladakh, a union territory of India. Leh, located in the Leh district, was also the historical capital of the Kingdom of Ladakh, the seat of which was in the Leh Palace, the former res ...

city's centre.

Demographics

According to the

2011 census of India The 2011 Census of India or the 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. The House listing phase began on 1 April 2010 and involved the collection of information about all buildings. Information ...

, Hemis has 24 households. The effective literacy rate (i.e. the literacy rate of population excluding children aged 6 and below) is 90.63%.

References

{{Authority control Villages in Kharu tehsil Ladakh Geography of Ladakh