Matho Monastery

Matho Monastery is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery located in Matho village, about 26 km southeast of Leh on the banks of the Indus River in Ladakh. Founded in 1410, it is the only monastery in Ladakh belonging to the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism. Notable for its hilltop location, ancient thangkas, museum collection, and the annual Matho Nagrang oracle festival, it offers cultural and architectural interest.

Visitors can expect a hilltop monastery complex overlooking the Indus Valley and Stok Kangri range, with whitewashed buildings, prayer halls, chapels and a small museum. Inside are statues of Buddha, wall paintings, 400-year-old thangkas and ritual artifacts. The site is relatively quiet compared to larger Ladakh monasteries. Visitors can explore courtyards, shrine rooms, and viewpoints, observe daily prayers, and learn about Sakya traditions.

Founded in 1410 by Lama Dugpa Dorje, a disciple of the Sakya tradition. It is the only monastery in Ladakh representing the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism, while most other monasteries belong to Gelug, Kagyu or Nyingma schools. The monastery preserves centuries-old thangkas, scriptures and artifacts and has remained an important centre of Sakya learning.

Culturally significant as the centre of the Sakya lineage in Ladakh and famous for the annual Matho Nagrang Festival held in February-March according to the Tibetan calendar, when two oracles perform masked dances and predict future events. The monastery is an active place of worship, meditation and Buddhist festivals for the local community.