Karsha Gompa

History

District page records up to 150 monks, multiple temples, assembly halls, and 14th-century founding traditions.

Karsha anchors the Padum valley monastic belt together with Sani, Stongde, and Burdan on the same official page.

Stories

Zanskar's largest monastery

Karsha, also called Karsha Chamspaling, is described as the largest and most important monastery in Zanskar, in Ladakh, close to Padum. It belongs to the Gelugpa order and is credited to the translator Phagspa Shesrab. Its oldest surviving structure, an Avalokiteshvara temple, has wall paintings that appear to belong to the era of the translator Rinchen Zangpo, who lived from 958 to 1055.

Masked dances of Gustor

The monastery's main festival is the Karsha Gustor, held with masked cham dances. Sources give the timing as the closing days of the Tibetan year, usually around January, so travellers should confirm dates locally. The chapel also holds a statue of Lhaso Cho Rinpoche brought from Lhasa in the 1960s, and a monastic community of roughly a hundred monks lives here.

Good to know

Largest Zanskar gompa per district tourism

White complex overlooking Padum

9 km from Padum

Getting there

Road from Kargil to Padum then local road to Karsha.