Alchi Gompa is 69 km from Leh, and the only monastery built on flat ground. It is also known as the ‘choskor’ or religious enclave. About 1000 years ago (11th century), this gompa was built by the great translator Ringchen Zangpo. It is famous for its murals and architecture, which combine Indian and Kashmiri influences.

The Alchi gompa has three images as high as three floors of the building, and they stand in a very narrow space. They are made of clay and painted with different colours. There are thousands of mini-pictures of the Buddha on the walls of the third temple. In A.D. 985, the king of Ladakh brought 32 painters from Kashmir to paint these wall-paintings. During the reign of Langtarma, the Buddhist religion was banned in this region. Lotsav Rinchen Zangpo, the head priest of the then king established Buddhism again in the region. He arranged for Kashmiri expertise to be used in building 108 Buddhist temples, and decorating them, during the reign of King Yeshe. And Alchi was one of these.

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