Matho Monastery

Because Matho does not lie on the main highway from Leh, it sees fewer visitors than Hemis, Thiske or Shey.

However, it is known to outsiders for its annual Oracle Matho Nagrang Festival, held on the 14th and 15th days of the first month of the Tibetan calendar.

[1][better source needed] The gompa is the only one in Ladakh belonging to the Sakyapa and is said to be one of the few which is seeing an increase of monks in recent years.

[3] Most of the buildings are, apparently, rather dilapidated but there is a new assembly hall or du-khang which was built in 2005 and which has very colourful paintings and a Sakyamuni Buddha as main statue.

There is a 'museum' adjoining it with a number of very beautiful old thangkas, some of which are thought to have been brought from Tibet in the first half of the 15th century when the monastery was founded.

When possessed they are said to be able to perform many astounding feats such as cutting themselves with knives and walking around the ramparts of the top storey blindfolded with no fear of falling down the precipice below.