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Tak-Thok Tse-Chu is an important festival which is held in the month of July and August and draws a large number of tourists and the local people. It is generally celebrated on the 10th day of the Lunar Tibetan Calendar. The Tsechu Festivals are celebrated by chham dances where both the monks and the local people dance. The dances depict different aspects of the wrathful and compassionate deities and a variety of animals.

This festival is one of the most interesting attractions in Ladakh. It is believed tht the visitors who witness the festival, bestow merit upon themselves in the teachings and get protection from the evil things. Tsechu is also treated as a social gathering where the local people adorn themselves in the best of clothes and jewelry.

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Tak -Tok Festival
Tak-Tok festival is celebrated at cave Gompa of Tak- Tok . It is among the major festivals of Ladakh. Celebrated in summer, it is yet another tourist attraction. The festival is celebrated with fanfare and locals from far-flung areas storm the place on the occasion.

"TSE-CHU" Padmasambhava’s anniversary; particularly the 10th days of the 5th & the 10th month are celebrated as the birth anniversary of Padmasambhava, founder of Tibetan Buddhism and the patron saint of Tibet

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Takthok Monastery

Takthok Monastery is situated in a small village called Sakti, which lies 46 Km east of Leh. Takthok means ‘rock-roof’ and the roof as well as walls of the monastery are made up of rocks. Takthok belongs to the Nying-ma-pa sect of Buddhism is also known as the “Old Order”. Fifty five lamas reside in this Monastery. The annual celebrations are held on the 9th and 10th day of the sixth month of the Tibetan calendar at Takthok Monastery.

The main assembly hall called the Dukhang located on the right of the central courtyard has murals of deities painted on the walls of the verandah that are displayed only at the time of the annual festival. There is a throne inside the assembly hall reserved for the Dalai Lama and the wall left to the throne is painted with the sketch of Padmasambhava and paintings of Sakyamuni. Statues of Maitreya, the Buddha or Buddha of Compassion, idols of Padmasambhava and Dorje are in Dukhang. In Takthok Monastery, 108 volumes of Buddha’s teachings called the Kandshur are also there.

 

Some precautions to be observed while visiting a monastery:

• Visitors are required to take off their shoes before entering a prayer area

• Do not disturb Monks at prayer, and always ask permission before taking photographs

• Do not touch religious artifacts

• Do not drink, smoke, take drugs or spit in the monastery premises

• Avoid talking loudly or disturbing the peaceful atmosphere

• In many Gompa’s, you are expected to walk around the premises only in a clockwise direction

• Women may not be allowed to enter the inner prayer rooms of some monasteries