Leh Palace, also known as Lachen Palkar Palace, is a former royal palace overlooking the city of

Leh Leh () is a city in Indian-administered Ladakh in the Kashmir#Kashmir_dispute, disputed Kashmir region. The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the WP:TE ...

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory and constitutes an eastern portion of the larger Kashmir region that has been the subject of a Kashmir#Kashmir dispute, dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 and India an ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It was constructed circa 1600 AD by Sengge Namgyal. The palace was abandoned when

Dogra __NOTOC__ Dogras, or Dogra people, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic community of Pakistan and India. Dogra, Dogras or Dogri may also refer to: * Dogra dynasty, a Hindu dynasty of Kashmir * Dogri language, a language spoken by Dogras and other ethnic commu ...

forces took control of Ladakh in the mid-19th century and forced the royal family to move to Stok Palace. It is nine storeys high; the upper floors accommodated the royal family, while the lower floors held stables and store rooms. Much of the palace is in deteriorated condition, and little survives of its interior decorations. The Palace Museum holds a rich collection of jewellery, ornaments, ceremonial dresses and crowns. Tibetan thangka or paintings, which are more than 450 years old, with intricate designs still retain the bright colours derived from crushed and powdered gems and stones. Structures around the palace's base include the prominent Namgyal Stupa (Tibetan: གཙུག་གཏོར་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་མ།, Sanskrit: Uṣṇīṣavijayā), the colourfully muraled Chandazik Gompa (Tibetan: སྤྱན་རས་གཟིགས།, Sanskrit: अवलोकितेश्वर/Avalokiteśvara) and the 1430 Chamba Lhakhang (Tibetan: བྱམས་པ་མགོན་པོ།, Sanskrit:मैत्रेय/Maitreya Buddha) with medieval mural fragments located between the inner and outer walls. The palace is being restored by the

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexander ...

. The palace is open to the public and the roof provides panoramic views of Leh and the surrounding areas.

Gallery

File:Leh Palace in night.jpg, Leh Palace lit at night during the Galdan Namchot festival. File:Leh Palace Morning View.jpg, Leh Palace, Morning view (2021)

References

{{Reflist Leh Palaces in Ladakh Ruined palaces Tourism in Ladakh

Gallery

See also

References