Shanti Stupa

Shanti Stupa is the white dome you see from every high point in Leh. It sits on a hilltop in Chanspa, about 5 km west of the main market, and it is the one structure that almost every first time visitor to Ladakh photographs without knowing exactly what it is.

What it is: a Japanese style peace pagoda, built between 1983 and 1991 by Japanese Buddhist monk Bhikshu Gyomyo Nakamura, with voluntary labour from Ladakhi Buddhists and financial support from Japan. Construction began in April 1983 under Nakamura's supervision, with help from Kushok Bakula, the head lama of Ladakh. The then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi sanctioned the construction of a motorable road to the hilltop in 1984. The Indian Army provided support during the building phase, and the Jammu and Kashmir state government supplied construction materials. In August 1991, the 14th Dalai Lama inaugurated the completed stupa and enshrined relics of the Buddha at its base.

The stupa was built to commemorate 2,500 years of Buddhism and to promote world peace. It is part of the Peace Pagoda movement started by Japanese Buddhist monk Nichidatsu Fujii, who envisioned peace pagodas and temples across the world as a way of reviving Buddhist practice and fostering harmony. There are similar stupas in other countries, but the one in Leh has become the most photographed of the lot, mostly because of where it sits.

The structure itself is a two level white dome. The first level features a central golden Buddha image on a platform with a Dharmachakra (the wheel of law) flanked by two deer, the classic Buddhist symbol of the first teaching at Sarnath. The second level has relief panels depicting the birth of the Buddha, his victory over temptation during meditation, and his death (Mahaparinirvana). Smaller meditating Buddha figures appear throughout. The architecture is distinctly Japanese Buddhist, different from the Tibetan Ladakhi style you see everywhere else in Leh, which is part of what makes it visually striking.

But honestly, the stupa itself is not why most people climb the hill. The view is. From the terrace around the dome, you get a wide panorama that includes Leh town spread below, Leh Palace and Namgyal Tsemo on their hilltop directly across the valley, the barren ridges of the Ladakh range, and the snow capped Stok range rising beyond the Indus. On a clear evening, the light turns the mountains amber and the stupa glows white against the darkening sky. This is the sunset view that shows up on every Ladakh travel reel, and it is genuinely as good in person as it looks in photographs. Possibly better, because the photographs do not capture the wind and the silence.

The sunrise is good too, but less popular because the light falls differently and the town is still in shadow. Sunset is the one to plan around.

You can reach the stupa two ways. The first is by climbing roughly 500 steep steps from the base of the hill on the Chanspa side. At 3,600 metres, this climb is real work, even for fit people. Budget twenty to thirty minutes if you are acclimatised, longer if you are not. The second is by road. A narrow tarred road winds up the back of the hill, and taxis and bikes can drive right to the parking area near the top. Most travellers drive up and walk down, which is the sensible approach unless you specifically want the stair climb.

The stupa is illuminated at night, and the white dome glowing against the dark hillside is visible from across Leh. Some travellers visit after dark for the lit up view, though most of the town view vanishes into darkness and what you get instead is the stupa itself against the stars. That has its own appeal.

Most people spend thirty to forty five minutes here. Walk around the terrace, photograph the view, sit for a while, circumambulate the stupa clockwise if you feel like it, and head down. An hour at most. This is not a destination that needs a long stay. The entire point is the view, and once you have sat with it for fifteen or twenty minutes, you have the experience. If you arrive for sunset, give yourself thirty minutes before the sun drops behind the ridges, and stay until the light has faded. That full sequence takes about forty five minutes and is the version of Shanti Stupa that sticks.