Shahnama Tours offers you a unique opportunity to explore the Buddhist pilgrimages in Ladakh. Ladakh is basically a high altitude desert and is one of the most remote regions of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. There are more than 100 Gompas or monasteries in Ladakh. These Gompas are religious residences of Buddhist monks who stay here and adhere to the Buddhist way of life, meditate and pray. Tours and travel to these Gompas involves long mountain treks as these pilgrimage destinations are situated in remote places in the interiors of Ladakh.

Most of these Gompas are situated in remote areas, usually at great heights. Either the Mahayana or the Hinayana Buddhist sects built most monasteries in the Ladakh area of Kashmir. Monasteries in Ladakh are perched on high cliffs.

Tours and travel to these Gompas make you aware of the deep religious influence these monasteries have on the local people. The predominantly practiced religion in Ladakh is the Mahayana Buddhism. Mahayana Buddhism is based on the eighth tenet of the concept of the eightfold part as propagated by Lord Buddha. This form of Buddhism stresses on meditation and concentration. One of the most innovative concepts introduced by the Mahayanists is that of the bodhisattvas.

The largest monastery in Ladakh is the Hemis Gompa that is located at a distance of 45 kilometers from Leh, the capital of Ladakh. The Namgyal Tsemo Gompa, which was built in the year 1430, houses a three-storyed statue of Lord Buddha. The Sankar Gompa is also an important monastery. The Dalai Lama inaugurated the Shanti Stupa in the year 1995. The Likhir monastery was built in the 11th century. There are huge clay images of Lord Buddha in this Gompa along with utensils and manuscripts from the olden days. Another old monastery is the Cave Gompa located at Shergole.

Kheer Bhawani

Shahnama Tours offers tourists an opportunity to visit the holy temple of the Goddess Ragnya Devi. This pilgrimage destination is located in the village of Tulla Mulla, that is at a distance of 27 kilometers from Srinagar.

This temple is popularly known as the Kheer Bhawani temple. Devotees fast and gather here on the eighth day of the full moon in the month of May when, according to common belief, the goddess changes the color of the spring's waters. The temple complex is known as Kheer Bhawani because of the thousands of devotees who offer milk and kheer, a form of Indian desert, to the sacred spring, which magically turns black to warn of impending disaster. Pilgrims who have faith in the divine powers of the goddess usually undertake tours and travel to this pilgrimage.

Travel and tours to the Kheer Bhawani pilgrimage during the annual festival can be the most thrilling experience. The festival of the Kheer Bhawani temple is extremely famous and devotees gather from far and wide to participate in the worship of the goddess Ragnya Devi. The festival ends with a maha yagnya. It has been a tradition among the Kashmiri pundits to visit the temple of Kheer Bhawani on all the nine days of the navratras. The tenth day of the festival is celebrated as Vijaya Dashami.

Shahnama Tours attempts to offer tourists relevant information on tours and travels to the Kheer Bhawani temple in Srinagar, Kashmir, India.