Date: May 31st - June 2nd, 2022.
Hemis is like a university of monasteries as it covers all the way from Leh to Nyoma. Apparently the total number of monks under this monastery is around 2000. The monastery is beautiful with lot of paintings, and it also has a museum about the history of it. Unfortunately, one cannot take photos inside. I spent 2 nights in the monastery itself and while the room was simple, it worked very well. In the morning I attended the monks rituals and also attended the graduation ceremony of one of the monks. You can see in the below photo where a young monk was standing between two elderly family members. Apparently his family has invited around 500 relatives from neighbouring villages and there was a huge feast in the afternoon. They all sit in one big hall with the guests and the young monk is congratulated. Later food is served with unlimited Chashul :). Loved the meal as it is cooked in the right way.
There is a cave where the Lama medidates for 3 months and 3 days and if you are interested you can hike up to that point. Apparently this whole monastery comes under Hemis National Park where there is a hiking trip for 15 to 21 days going inside the mountains, maybe next time.Also there is a annual festival in July where cultural activities are held at the monastery.
There is a restaurant at the monastery which is cool to hang out at night. They put bonfire every night and good to chat with monks and the workers there.
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