Key Gompa, Key Monastery

Extreme postive vibes ! Don't dare to miss this on spiti trip

Treat to your soul! It's really a heavenly experience. The break of dawn and the distribution of light, the clouds, mountain peaks glistening with ice, the river, the neat line of houses on the hillock, splendid work of nature!nYou will enjoy the road and the destination.nMust visit place for any travel enthusiast.

One of the most special places to visit on the valley. Deffinetly worthy to go. Went on dalai lama's birthday and had a small party on the top. Really beautiful.

The biggest centre of Buddhist learning in Spiti Valley, Key Monastery is over 1000-year-old. It is the oldest training centre for Lamas. It is located at a height of 13,668 feet above mean sea level in Lahaul Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh in north India.nnFounded by Dromton, a famous disciple of teacher Atisha in the 11th century, the monastery used to house about 350 lamas at one time. The number of inmates at the monastery has come down.nnThe monastery is famous for its architecture called Pasada style. Pasada style is characterised by two or more stories and often plays the role of a fort-monastery. The monastery is spread over three floors – underground, ground and first floor. Underground is mainly utilized for storage; ground floor is used as assembly hall, called Du-Khang. The ground floor also has small rooms for monks.nnThe rooms with murals called Tangyur is a must see. The monastery is known for its ancient murals, rare thangkas and ancient weapons. The images of Gautam Buddha in dhyana (meditation) position are a must see. The monastery also has a sizeable collection of musical instruments like trumpets, cymbals and drums.

Key monastery is such a magnificent place. Right from its architecture, to its location, everything about Key is out of this world.nnThis bird eye view of Key, is not very common amd makes one see Key Monastery in a different light.nnIt is a must visit for anyone who visits Spiti. They also have a guesthouse in case you wish to stay there.