Sankar Gompa of Ladakh is located at a distance of approximately 3 km from the town of Leh. A subsidiary of the Spituk Gompa, it belongs to the Gelukpa or the Yellow Hat Sect. The monastery also serves as the official residence of the Ladakh's head of Gelukpa Sect, known as The Kushok Bakul. There are time restrictions for visiting the Sankar Monastery of Leh Ladakh. You can also go either between 7:00 am and 10:00 am, or between 5:00 pm and 7:00 pm. These restrictions have been placed because a few of the monks, of the yellow-hat sect, attached to the monastery reside here permanently.To the right of the front yard of the monastery is the Dukhang (assembly hall). Both the sides of its entrance are adorned with the paintings of the Guardian of the Four Directions. On the left wall of the entrance verandah is a "Wheel of Life", held by Yama. As you enter the Dukhang, you will come across some relatively new paintings of various Buddhas, along with guardian deities. There is also a throne inside the Dukhang, reserved for the head lama of the monastery. On the right-hand side of the throne is an image of Avalokitesvara (Lord of All He Surveys), with 1000 arms and 11 heads.
The central image inside the Sankar Monastery is that Tsong-kha-pa, founder of the yellow-hat sect of Buddhism, along with his two chief disciples. To the left of this image is another image of Avalokitesvara, again with 1,000 arms and 11 heads. And to its right is a case full of Tibetan bronzes. There are a number of other images also, like those of Sakyamuni (the Historical Buddha), The Present Buddha, Maitreya (the Future Buddha), White Guardian and Amchi (the Buddha of Medicine).
Diagonally opposite to the door, leading to the small inner courtyard of the monastery, is Dukar Lokhang, a temple devoted to the deity Dukar. The main image inside Dukar Lokhang is that of Dukar, inset with turquoise and shown with 1,000 arms, 1,000 feet, 1,000heads, and 100,000 eyes. To the right of the image is a statue of Maitreya (the Buddha of the Future). Sankar Gompa also has the possession of Kandshur, the 108 volumes of Buddha's teachings.
