The festivals of Leh Ladakh are observed with tremendous zeal each year and are typically conducted in the courtyard of Buddhist monasteries. In cham (holy mask dances), monks perform while donning bright robes and terrifying masks. These cham stand for mental purification and the victory of good over evil. The festivals play a big role in Ladakh’s cultural life. These monastic celebrations draw people of all ages from across Ladakh.

Top Festivals of Leh Ladakh

Spituk Gustor Festival

The first event in Ladakh following Losar (the New Year) is called Spituk Gustor. Attending this celebration, people face the freezing weather. The festival’s major attraction is a huge thangka of Je Tsongkhapa, the sect’s founder, that is on exhibit for the general public. People also line at the main temple’s gate to ask protector goddesses like Mahakala and Sridevi (Palden Lhamo), whose faces are only revealed during the festival, for their blessings.

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Dosmochey Festival

Dosmochey is frequently regarded by Ladakhis as a sign of approaching warmer weather after several months of chilly winter weather. Dosmochey was first celebrated annually by the Ladakh royal family. Monks at the ancient temple underneath the Leh Palace conduct cham, or sacred dances.

Stok Guru Tsechu Festival

In the village of Stok, the current residence of the Ladakh royal family, the Stok Guru Tsechu festival is annually. Oracles who forecast the upcoming year are well-known at this festival. These so-called oracles are laypeople—not monks—who have been taught by Spituk gompa monks how to open their bodies to the deities’ spirits.

Saka Dawa, Buddha Purnima or Vesak Day

Saka Dawa, also known as Buddha Purnima or Vesak Day, honours the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment, and demise. Saka Dawa is observed by the people of Ladakh as the greatest festival of all Buddhists, just as it is by Buddhists in other areas of the world. Depending on the lunar calendar, this holiday is typically observed in May.

Matho Nagrang Festival

In Ladakh, the Matho Nagrang festival is well-known as the “festival of oracles,” together with Stok Guru Tsechu. To make forecasts for the hamlet and people of Ladakh, the oracles, or ronstang, take over the bodies of two selected monks, unlike the festival at Stok where deities inhabit laypeople.

Sindhu Darshan Festival

To glorify the river Sindhu (Indus), the Sindhu Darshan event is held annually in Shey. Indian culture is regarded as having its roots in the Indus River, which also serves as a representation of India’s oneness. From all around the country, people come to this three-day celebration.

Hemis Tsechu Festival

The Hemis Tsechu festival may be the most well-known monastery celebration in Ladakh among visitors. To commemorate the birthdate of Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche), the father of Tibetan Buddhism, this festival is held.

Shachukul Kabgyat Festival

The most significant holiday is Shachukul Kabgyat, which is observed by residents of all the villages in Durbuk block. This two-day event is celebrated at the Shachukul gompa, and monks from this block who are studying in other regions of the nation regularly come.

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Phyang Tsedup Festival

One of Ladakh’s most significant festivals is Phyang Tsedup. The saint and father of the Drikungpa order, Skyoba Jigten Gombo, is honoured at the festival. The sacred mask dance-dramas in Phyang Gompa are longer and typically last for half an hour, in contrast to those performed in other monasteries.

Stongde Gustor Festival

Stongde gompa, one of the oldest monasteries in Zanskar, is well-known for its annual Stongde Gustor festival. At this monastery, established about 10 centuries ago by Lama Marpa, a student of Naropa, people and monks congregate. In accordance with the Tibetan lunar calendar, this festival is observed on days 28 and 29 of the eleventh month.

Karsha Gustor Festival

Karsha Gustor, which is commemorated at the biggest monastery in Zanskar, Karsha Gompa, denotes the triumph of good over evil. In the summer, they celebrate Karsha Gustor.

Korzok Gustor Festival

The Korzok Gustor festival is one of the most spectacular and stunning celebrations in the entire Ladakh region, with its backdrop of the breathtaking Tso Moriri lake and the Korzok monastery. The festival’s charm is enhanced by the enormous number of Changpa nomadic communities who come to the event.

Takthok Tsechu Festival

Takthok (also known as “rock roof” in Ladakhi due to the rock walls and roof) is the sole Nyingmapa monastery in Ladakh. One of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism, and the oldest, is practised in this monastery. Guru Rinpoche is supposed to have used the cave that the monastery is built around for meditation in the ninth century.

Chemrey Wangchok Festival

Chemrey Gompa, which is perched atop a hill, is one of Ladakh’s most stunning monasteries. Even though the monastery is well-known, not many people are aware of the annual Chemrey Wangchok festival that takes place there. Founded in the fifteenth century, the monastery.

Sani Naro Nasjal Festival

During the reign of the Kanishka Empire in the first century CE, Sani Monastery was established. As a result, Sani is the oldest monastery in the Ladakh and Zanskar Valleys. It is currently owned by the Kargyu School’s Drugpa Kagyu division. The monastery celebrates Sani Naro Nasjal, a yearly celebration, from the fifteenth to the twentieth of the sixth Tibetan month.

Galdan Namchot Festival

With the Galdan Namchot festival, the New Year’s celebrations in Ladakh officially get underway. This festival honours the Gelugpa sect’s founder, Je Tsongkhapa, a Tibetan scholar, by remembering his birth and enlightenment. All monasteries, governmental buildings, and homes are illuminated in the vision of Galdan Namchot.

Thiksey Gustor Festival

Thiksey Gustor, along with Chemrey Wangchok, is one of the last festivals to be observed before Ladakhi New Year or Losar, and it is usually celebrated in either October or November. During the two-day event, a large number of tourists attend the festival at the Thiksey monastery, which is as majestic as the building itself. For more information about festivals of Leh Ladakh contact C Himalaya one of the leading travel agents in Kashmir.