Morning prayers at Thiksey Monastery
Thiksey is a Gelugpa monastery built up a rocky hill above the Indus, its white and ochre buildings stacked in tiers to a red temple at the top. It houses around a hundred monks and is often compared to the Potala in Lhasa, though it is much smaller. The drive from Leh takes about 30 minutes on an empty early road, past Shey and the fields of Choglamsar. Arrive early.
The morning puja usually starts around 6 am in summer. Two monks blow long horns from the roof to call the community, and visitors are allowed to sit along the back wall of the assembly hall. Novices pour butter tea and pass round tsampa, and you may be offered a cup. Sit still, keep your camera down during the chanting and do not walk in front of the senior monks.
After prayers, climb to the Maitreya temple, where a two-storey statue of the future Buddha was installed in the 1970s, and then to the roof for the view south over the Indus to Stok and Matho. We usually return to the hotel for breakfast, or picnic at Shey on the way back. Timings shift with the seasons, so we confirm them the day before. Dress warmly for the cold halls.
Questions travellers ask
Good to know
What time does the Thiksey morning prayer start?
In summer it usually starts around 6 am, a little later in winter, and lasts about an hour. Timings are set by the monastery and change with the season and the ritual calendar, so we check with the monastery the day before. Leaving Leh at 5.30 am gives time to climb the steps and settle in before the horns sound.
Can visitors take photographs during the puja?
Photography without flash is generally tolerated in the assembly hall, but we ask guests to keep cameras down during chanting and never photograph monks at close range without asking. Some chapels prohibit photography entirely, and signs say so. The best pictures come before and after prayers, from the roof terraces and the stairways outside.
What should we wear to Thiksey?
Wear covered shoulders and knees, layers and warm socks. You remove shoes at the door of each hall, and stone floors are cold at 6 am even in July. A down jacket and a hat make the hour comfortable. There is no formal dress code beyond modesty, but quiet colours and no hats inside the temples are appreciated.
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