Kungri Monastery

Located 10km away from Attargo and around 3 km away from Gulling of Himachal Pradesh in Pin Valley, Kungri Monastery Lahaul and Spiti Valley is one of the best and beautiful monasteries of Himachal Pradesh. Attargo is a town that is located at a distance of 12 km from Spiti, the headquarter of subdivision districts. To reach Pin valley you need to cross the Spiti river. Most of this part falls under the national park. Kungri Monastery Lahaul and Spiti Valley stand as the second oldest Gompa. It is the only monastery that belongs to the order of Nyingmapa Buddhism.

History

The Monastery was built in the 14 century. This place consists of three blocks in the shape of a rectangle and all of these face the east direction. It shows the impact of the tradition of Tibet at that time which was strong and is still there today in the Pin Valley of Himachal Pradesh.

The Kangra Monastery Lahaul and Spiti Valley have some beautiful silk painting of different deities of Buddhist. These paintings are found in the inner walls of the monastery and it also has some scared texts of Tibet of around three hundred volumes along with that it has some huge statues and carefully preserved Tenjur and Kenjur in white muslin.

The Monastery is one of the popular destination for the pilgrims, tourist and Buddhists scholars from all over the planet. Its primary purpose is to preserve the ancient treasure trove of Buddhist Tibetan art, tradition and culture. The Devil dance performed every year in July is another kind of attraction that attracts people here. A tradition of Nyingmapa is the sword dance which is as popular as the Devil dance.

Festivals

Several festivals and fairs take place throughout the year in Himachal Pradesh. The festivals and fairs are part of the cultural and religious faith of people which one can feel and see here. The festivals also are the time when people wear beautiful and colourful accessories and dresses and mingle with the other people with any boundaries, completely free from any worldly thoughts.

Some of the famous fair and festivals that people love to be a part of are the Mandi or Shivratri Fair, Kullu Dusshera, Chamba or Minjar fair, Holi or Sujanpur fair, Renuka fair in Sirmaur, Jwalamukhi fair, Lavi Trade-in Rampur, the Vrajeshwari fair in Kangra, Naina Devi fair in Bilaspur and many more.

Culture

On your visit to Kungri Monastery Lahaul and Spiti Valley one thing that you will get to see is the beautiful culture of the people staying here. Himachal Pradesh has a population of people with a mixed culture. Though maximum people staying here are Hindu they can be categorised into Rajputs, Kolis, Rathis, Brahmins and Kinnars.

You will also get to see some tribal communities living in harmony. This might include the Kinnars, Gujjars, Gaddis, Lahaulis and Pangawals. You will get Buddhist residing in some areas of Spiti and Lahaul. The people whom you will find in some percentage are Muslims, Christians, Tibetans and Sikhs.

The state language here is Hindi, still, people here speak the Pahari language. Though Pahari has several dialects still they all have their origin in the language, Sanskrit. Agriculture is what people are engaged mostly and the people who are educated and moving to other professions as well along with choosing new methods of farming.

The dress that the Brahmins wear here is Dhoti, coat, kurta, turban and waistcoat along with a hand towel. The Rajputs have their different dress which includes churidar pyjamas, turban and long coat. The female here is found wearing salwar, long skirts and kurtas. The dresses here has a mixed of traditional with modernity.

Himachal Pradesh has houses made of clay bricks and has roofs of slate. The stone houses are found in the hilly regions. There the roofs are made of timber. Tribal communities here usually have two-storey houses. The ground floor is for the cattle and the first one is for them to stay.

Best Time To Visit

Best Time to Visit Himachal Pradesh and Kungri Monastery Lahaul and Spiti Valley completely depend on the experience that you have been seeking for in your holidays. If you want plenty of snow all around, it is best to go in winter. In case you want to make the inner explorer of your calm down, visit Himachal Pradesh in summers.

The summers are perfect for you if you want to look at every corner of the state. During this time you will be able to enjoy various water sports and visit monasteries and valleys with peace. Monsoons are worst for you because due to landslides it becomes nearly impossible for you to see anything here and your holiday will go in vain.

How To Reach?

Himachal Pradesh is a state that can be reached by any means of transport, be it rail, air or road. It is connected well enough with the state and national highways and the road transportation is great.

Getting into more detail, it has some domestic airports nearby which are Jubbarhatti Airport, Gaggal Airport and Bhuntar Aiport. These are present in Shimla, Kangra and Manali respectively. You can easily get a flight from the major cities and reach here.

Delhi and Chandigarh are the international airports that you can use if you are travelling here from abroad. Along with airways, you can also choose railways if you are comfortable with it. Though the rail connectivity is not as proper as the airways because of the mountainous terrain here. Still, Kangra railway station is nearby and you can hire any local transport to reach your favourite place without any trouble.

Therefore, visit Kungri Monastery Lahaul and Spiti Valley by choosing any transportation facility that suits you and you are comfortable with. You will have a great experience and a blast on your holiday to Himachal Pradesh. This will become a lifelong memory for you and you will visit again to experience the same.