Ladakh is a land like no other. Bounded by two of
the world's mightiest mountain ranges, the Great Himalaya and the
Karakoram, it lies athwart two other, the Ladakh range and the Zanskar
range. Ladakh lies at altitudes ranging from about 9,000 feet (2750m)
at Kargil to 25,170 feet (7,672m) at Saser Kangri in the Karakoram.
The Stakna monastery lies at a distance of 25 Kms from Leh on the Right Bank
of the River Indus.
The monastery formed part of the one of the many religious estates offered to
the great scholar saint of Bhutan called Chosje Jamyang Palkar in about 1580
AD by the Dharmaraja Jamyang Namgial who had invited his to Ladakh.
The monastery was built on a hill shaped like a tiger’s nose and so its
name was given as Stakna (Tiger’s nose).
The most important image in the monastery is that of the sacred Arya Avalokitesvara
from Kamrup (Assam).
There are about 30 monks in residence. The successive reincarnation of the Stakna
Tulku act as the incumbents the monastery and they continue to fulfil the fine
responsibility of upholding the teachings of the Dugpa order.
The branch monasteries attached to Stakna are those of Mud and Kharu and those
of Stakrimo, Bardan and Sani in Zanskar.
Stakna Monastery, Monastries in Ladakh
Reservation Form
