The Shey Monastery or Gompa and the Shey Palace complex are structures located on a hillock in Shey, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) to the south of Leh in Ladakh, northern India on the Leh-Manali road. Shey was the summer capital of Ladakh in the past. It contains a huge Shakyamuni Buddha statue. It is the second largest Buddha statue in Ladakh.See Shey Monastery and all Leh has to offer by arranging your trip with our Leh visit app.
The original palace, now in ruins, was built near the Shey village by Lhachen Palgyigon, the king of Ladakh (then called Maryul), in the 10th century. The Moghul noble Mirza Haidar Dughlat stayed here during his invasion of Ladakh in the 16th century.
The current Shey Palace and Monastery were also built in 1655 on the instructions of Deldan Namgyal, in the memory of his late father, Sengge Namgyal, below the first palace. The monastery is noted for its giant copper with gilded gold statue of a seated Shakyamuni Buddha. The statue is so named since Buddha was the sage (muni) of the Sakya people who resided in the Himalayan foothills and their capital was Kapilvastu. It is said to be the second largest such statue in Ladakh.
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Shey Monastery reviews
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Beautiful view from the place. Visited during the losar festival. got to see the prayer session in progress. Half an hour to 45 min are enough to explore this place
Beautiful view from the place. Visited during the losar festival. got to see the prayer session in progress. Half an hour to 45 min are enough to explore this place more »
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View from the top is good. Not much of climb as compared to Thicksey. Worth a visit. Can do a little bit of shopping outside the palace.
View from the top is good. Not much of climb as compared to Thicksey. Worth a visit. Can do a little bit of shopping outside the palace. more »
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A must visit destination in Leh. Its around 15-20 km drive from Leh city. It's on the Leh-Manali Highway. The experience to be there was magical. And yes it was awesome.. The best part was the mini trek to the top of the ruins of the palace.
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Nice palace. Buddha statue felt great. They could have better navigation signs because the way to monastery appeared complicated around the building
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