Editing Leh (section)

==Tourism==
{{see also | Tourism in Ladakh}}

Ladakh receives very large numbers of tourists for its size. Visitor numbers have swelled rapidly in the 21st century through 2010, increasing 77% from 2005 to 2010 (77,800 tourists), largely caused by an increase in domestic Indian travellers.<ref name="LehStats">{{Cite web |url=http://leh.nic.in/pages/leh.pdf |title=History |access-date=18 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724092852/http://leh.nic.in/pages/leh.pdf |archive-date=24 July 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Tourism has continued to increase, exceeding 500,000 people in 2022 and 2023 in Ladakh. The sharpest growth began after 2010 when the Bollywood film 3 Idiots —filmed in part on the [[Pangong Tso|Pangong Lake]] in Ladakh — became a big hit in India. This is a contrast to the population of Leh, 31,000. This increase adds to the economy but it is having negative effects on the land due to the increase in waste and increasing water scarcity.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://eastasiaforum.org/2025/05/10/tourism-in-indias-ladakh-border-region-reaches-tipping-point/ |title=Tourism in India’s Ladakh border region reaches tipping point |journal=[[East Asia Forum]] |first=Le Hoang Ngoc |last=Yen |date=May 10, 2025 |access-date=May 26, 2025 |doi=10.59425/eabc.1746878400 |quote=While only 527 visitors arrived in Ladakh when it first opened for tourism in 1974, the number of inbound tourists exceeded 500,000 in 2022 and 2023. Ladakh’s dramatic hike in the number of inbound tourists has driven economic growth, boosted the local service industry, raised the local standard of living and created many jobs in the community. }}</ref>

===Leh Palace===
[[file:Old palace, Leh.jpg|thumb|Old palace of the kings in Leh.]]

The first recorded royal residence in Ladakh, built at the top of the high Namgyal ('Victory') Peak overlooking the present palace and town, is the now-ruined fort and ''gon-khang'' (Temple of the Guardian Divinities) built by King [[Tashi Namgyal]]. Tashi Namgyal ruled in the final quarter of the 16th century CE.<ref>Rizvi (1996), p. 64.</ref> 

The ''Royal Palace'', known as [[Leh Palace]], was built by King [[Sengge Namgyal]] (1612–1642),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Incredible India {{!}} Leh Palace |url=https://www.incredibleindia.org/content/incredible-india-v2/en/destinations/leh-ladakh/leh-palace.html |access-date=2021-10-16 |website=incredibleindia.org}}</ref> presumably between the period when the Portuguese [[Jesuit]] priest Francisco de Azevedo visited Leh in 1631, and made no mention of it, and [[Sengge Namgyal|Sengge Namgyal's]] death in 1642.<ref>Rizvi (1996), pp. 69, 290.</ref> The Leh Palace is nine storeys high; the upper floors accommodated the royal family, and the stables and storerooms are located on the lower floors. The palace was abandoned when [[Kashmiri people|Kashmiri]] forces besieged it in the mid-19th century. The royal family moved their premises south to their current home in [[Stok]] Palace on the southern bank of the Indus River.<ref name=fran1/>

===Leh Old Town===
[[File:Lehpalace5.jpg|thumb|300px|Leh city seen from [[Namgyal Tsemo Monastery]] and [[Leh Palace]]]]
The old town of Leh was added to the [[World Monuments Fund]]'s list of 100 most endangered sites due to increased rainfall, due to climate change among other reasons.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.sawf.org/Travel/41309.aspx |title=Tourist Boom Brings Threat to Leh's Tibetan Architecture |publisher=AFP |date=19 August 2007}}</ref> Neglect and changing settlement patterns in the old town have also threatened the long-term preservation of the site.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/007682.html |title=Ethnic Leh Houses Falling Apart |author=Tripti Lahiri |publisher=AFP |date=23 August 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706022236/http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/007682.html |archive-date=6 July 2008}}</ref>

The rapid and poorly planned urbanisation of Leh has increased the risk of flash floods in some areas, while other areas, according to research by the [[Climate and Development Knowledge Network]], suffer from the less dramatic, gradual effects of 'invisible disasters', which often go unreported.<ref>[http://cdkn.org/2014/06/harmonising-climate-adaptation-and-disaster-risk-reduction-india Local approaches to harmonising climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction: Lessons from India, Anshu Sharma, Sahba Chauhan and Sunny Kumar, the Climate and Development Knowledge Network, 2014] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140707145104/http://cdkn.org/2014/06/harmonising-climate-adaptation-and-disaster-risk-reduction-india/ |date=7 July 2014 }} cdkn.org</ref>

===Leh city===

#[[Leh Palace]]
#[[Namgyal Tsemo Monastery|Namgyal Tsemo Gompa]]
#[[Shanti Stupa, Ladakh|Shanti Stupa]]
#Cho Khang Gompa
#Chamba Temple
#Jama Masjid
#Gurdwara Pathar Sahib
#[[Sankar Monastery|Sankar Gompa and village]]
#War Museum
#The Victory Tower
#[[Zorawar Fort]]
#[[Ladakh Marathon]]
#[[Datun Sahib]]
#[[Ice Stupa]]

<gallery mode="packed" heights="134">
Lehpalace1.jpg|[[Leh Palace]] View from [[Leh Market]]
Namgyal Tsemo Gompa, Leh.jpg|[[Namgyal Tsemo Monastery|Namgyal Tsemo Gompa]]
Shanti Stupa ( Winters).jpg|[[Shanti Stupa, Ladakh|Shanti Stupa]]
Diskit Monastery, Leh.jpg|[[Sankar Monastery|Sankar Gompa and village]]
Zorawerfort.jpg|[[Zorawar Fort]]
Datun Sahib tree in Leh, 2009.jpg|[[Datun Sahib]]
</gallery>

===Buddhist monasteries===

* Namgyal Gompa (also called "Tsemo Gompa" (Red Gompa), or ''dGon-pa-so-ma'' (New Monastery),<ref name="Francke 1914, p. 70">Francke (1914), p. 70.</ref> a temple, is the main Buddhist centre in Leh.<ref>Rizvi (1996), pp. 41, 64, 225-226.</ref> There are some older walls of fortifications behind it which Francke reported were once known as the "Dard Castle." If it was indeed built by [[Dards]], it must pre-date the establishment of Tibetan rulers in Ladakh over a thousand years ago.<ref>Rizvi (1996), pp. 226-227.</ref>

* Sankar Labrang (Bsam dkar bla brang) is a small, two-storeyed building owned by [[Sankar Monastery|Sankar monastery]]. ''"Sankar monastery is the seat of Bakula Rinpoche, immediately to the northwest of Leh. The monastery's Labrang building is located in the old town of Leh, in the Manikhang neighbourhood. Manikhang is the area between the main bazaar of Leh and the historic Stalam path that leads up to the royal palace. Four huge ''stūpas'' standing at this point mark the beginning of historic Leh. In recent memory, the Sankar Labrang had a metalsmith's workshop downstairs, while upstairs lived the monk caretaker of the White Maitreya Temple (Byams khang dkar po), also known locally as "Street Maitreya". The White Maitreya Temple dates back to the reign of King Drakpa Bumd´e (Grags pa 'bum lde, r. ca 1410–1435), following the arrival of a mission sent to Ladakh by the Tibetan lama [[Tsongkhapa]]"''.<ref>Alexander, André, and Van Shaik, Sam. (2011).</ref> 

* Chamba monasteries (Byams-pa, ''i.e.'', [[Maitreya]]) and Chenresi (sPyan-ras-gzigs, i.e. [[Avalokiteshvara]]) monasteries which are of uncertain date.<ref name="Francke 1914, p. 70"/>

* Stone Maitreya of Leh:<ref>''The Rediscovery and Recovery of an Early Tibetan Monument''. ''JRAS, Series 3, 21,'' 4(2011), p. 421.</ref>

===Annual Sindhu Darshan Festival===

Every year [[Sindhu Darshan Festival]] is held at [[Shey]], 15&nbsp;km from town, to promote religious harmony and the glory of the ''[[Indus River|Sindhu]]'' river. Many tourists come to Leh for this.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fountainheadindia.com/festivals_details.php|title=Sindhu Darshan Festival|access-date=22 January 2011|archive-date=30 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930201832/http://www.fountainheadindia.com/festivals_details.php|url-status=dead}}</ref>

{{wide image|Indus Valley near Leh.jpg|1250px|The Indus River in Leh|center}}