Behind his seat in the chapel is a statue of Lhaso Cho Rinpoche, brought from Lhasa in the 1960s, with a golden crown decorated with carnelian and turquoise.

[6] The most important festival, known as the Karsha Gustor, is held with masked cham dances on the 26th to the 29th day of the 11th Tibetan month, which is usually in January.

Mons, the dominant population in the Zanskar valley, and are said to belong to an Aryan race linked to Kaniskha’s period as their features do not match those of the local tribes or the Mongolians.

[1] Dorjee Zong Nunnery, founded in the 14th century and one of the oldest monastic centres in Zanskar, is located at the top of the valley.

[10] A chorten in the precincts of Kursha monastery houses the mummified body of an incarnate lama called the Rinchen Zangpo, sealed in a silver-lined wooden box.

During the Indo-Pakistan war, the silver sheet covering of the chorten was ransacked, which resulted in exposure of the wooden frame work of the reliquary.

Zanskar takes a turn at Karsha and flows in a northwesterly direction to eventually join the Indus River near Nimmu in Ladakh.

Below the Khlangpu peak (5,160 metres (16,930 ft)) of the Zanskar hill range, the river flows in deep ravines near Karsha monastery.

[13][14] Karsha is now accessible directly from Manali, Himachal Pradesh via the new Nimmu–Padum–Darcha road that goes over the Shingo La pass separating Lahaul and Zanskar.