It is a prettily located monastery built in red and white perched high on a hillock on the opposite side of Karsha monastery. Stongde village is approx. 10 km from Padum and a road to the monastery diverges from there. The distance in is only 3 km but the walk can be excruciating because of the almost vertical elevation. The road is motorable too and is the best way to reach the 11th century Gelugpa monastery.
Stongde (pronounced tongde) is a sizeable monastery and houses around 80 monks. It is said to have been established by Naropa’s disciple Marpa. It is one of the best maintained monasteries in all of Zanskar and sometimes even belies the status of being almost 1000 years old. There are seven temples in Stongde gompa, and one enclosure houses some rare paintings.
Views from Stongde monastery stretch across the valley and it is a great delight to watch them. Whitewashed homes among the green fields complete a pretty oasis like sight. You might find homestays in the village just before the monastery and the monks might be able to offer a stay in the monastery itself.
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