Buddhist Monastery at Mc Leodganj, Dharamshala

Namgyal Monastery at Mc Leod Ganj in the North Indian state of Himachal Pradesh is a famous Tibetan Buddhist monastery also known as 'the temple of Dalai Lama'. Founded in 1564-65 by the second Dalai Lama, the monastery was named in honour of the female goddess Namgyalma.

Beautiful valley of Mc Leodganj

Parking Bay at Mc Leodganj

 Monastery courtyard

Prayer and Meditation centers

Mani Prayer wheel 

The Mani prayer wheels have the Avalokiteshwara mantra 'OM MANI PADME HUM' inscribed over and inside them. It is believed that by turning this wheel once one gets the merit equal to the recitation of the filled mantras. It has to be turned clockwise.

Buddhist Art

Buddha (meditating) and Avalokiteshwara (behind)

Behind is the image of Avalokiteshwara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, who is the patron deity of Tibet.

Guru Padma Sambhava

The image is of Indian sage Guru Padma Sambhava who came to the Tibet in the 8th Century. He brought tantric teaching in Tibet.

Basic teachings of the Buddha

Tibetan Memorial

The burning monk- an ode to the Tibetan struggle

Many Tibetan Monks and followers were driven out of Tibet after its annexation by China in the 50s. This monastery is also called Dalai Lama's temple where the 14th Lama is seated in exile. The monks today are settled in many bordering areas of Tibet in India, Nepal and Bhutan.

 ཨོཾ་མ་ཎི་པདྨེ་ཧཱུྃ

OM MANI PADME HUM