Tabo Monastery

TABO MONASTERY

Tabo Monastery is situated in the village of Tabo, in the secluded Spiti valley of the state Himachal Pradesh, India.

Spiti Valley forms one of the Trans-Himalayan frontier regions of northern India with a population of around 10,000 people. It is bounded by Ladakh in the north, Lahaul and Kullu district in the west and south-east respectively, and by Tibet and the Kinnaur district in the east.

In the past the region was included within the boundaries of Tibet.

Tabo village is at an altitude of 3,280 metres, it is a remote place, with often harsh and extreme weather isolating it from the outside world.

Tabo Monastery was founded in 996AD. With its original decoration and art images intact, it is considered to be the oldest continuously functioning Buddhist monastery in India and the Himalayas.

The unique beauty of its art and its pivotal historical role in the transmission of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and culture in the 10th and 11th century makes Tabo Monastery an historically significant site.

Within the ancient monastery's compound are nine temples built between the late 10th and the 17th century and numerous stupas.