Key Monastery
Kye monastery (also spelled Ki, Key or Kee – pronounced like English key) is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery located on top of a hill at an altitude of 4,166 metres (13,668 ft) above sea level, close to the Spiti River, in the Spiti Valley of Himachal Pradesh, Lahaul and Spiti district, India.
It is the biggest monastery of Spiti Valley and a religious training centre for Lamas. It reportedly had 100 monks in 1855.
The walls of the monastery are covered with paintings and murals, an example of the 14th century monastic architecture, which developed as the result of Chinese influence.
Kye monastery has a collection of ancient murals and books, including Buddha images.
Kye monastery has three floors, the first one is mainly underground and used for storage. One room, called the Tangyur is richly painted with murals. The ground floor has the beautifully decorated Assembly Hall and cells for many monks.
Kye Gompa now belongs to the Gelugpa sect, along with Tabo Monastery and Dhankar Gompa, one of three in Spiti.
“The monastery of Kee, for instance, accommodates nearly 250 monks, who reside within the sacred walls in winter, and stay during the summer with their parents or brothers, working in the fields, or employed in carrying travellers’ goods. These monasteries have their regular heads, or abbots, and the higher ecclesiastical titles can only be obtained by the candidates proceeding in person to either Shigatzee (Shigatse) or Lhassa (Lhasa).”
A celebration of its millennium was conducted in 2000 in the presence of the Dalai Lama. A new Prayer Hall was inaugurated on 3rd August, 2000 by HH The Fourteenth Dalai Lama.
Source : wikipedia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPioZLnWs5U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTTlkqSWxdo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rejHijyNHc
Reviews
Visiting hours : The timings to visit the Ki Monastery are between 6:00 am and 7:00 pm. The monastery is open for visitors from mid April to December.
Rate this article