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Shey Palace

Shey Palace

heritage site · Leh & Ladakh

State
Leh & Ladakh
Type
Heritage Site

Shey Palace and Monastery, 15 km south of Leh in the Indus Valley, served as the summer capital of Ladakh and houses a 12-metre, three-storey gilded statue of Shakyamuni Buddha, the second-largest such statue in Ladakh.

Shey Palace is known for

former summer capital of Ladakh12-metre gilded Buddha statue10th-century original palaceNamgyal dynasty memorial (1655)

A short history

The original palace was built in the 10th century by Lhachen Palgyigon, king of Ladakh (then called Maryul); Moghul noble Mirza Haidar Dughlat used it during his 16th-century invasion. King Deldan Namgyal commissioned the current palace and monastery in 1655 as a memorial to his father, Sengge Namgyal, built on a hillock below the original palace ruins. The great Buddha statue, requiring roughly 5 kg of gold for gilding, was crafted by Nepalese sculptor Sanga Zargar Wanduk. When Dogras invaded in 1842, the royal family abandoned Shey for Stok. [Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shey_Monastery]

Why Shey Palace matters

As the former summer capital of Ladakh and a required birthplace for Namgyal heirs, Shey Palace holds deep dynastic significance alongside its major Buddhist statue.

When to go

May to September

How to reach

Located 15 km south of Leh in the Indus Valley, on the Leh-Manali highway.

Shey Palace guide & itineraries

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