Dhankar

Getting there

Take the main road from Kaza towards Tabo for about 24 km, then turn up the branch road for 8 km to Dhankar village. The branch road is narrow and suits small vehicles best. From Spiti Villa the whole drive is about 40 km.

The monastery

Dhang means cliff and kar means fort: Dhankar is the fort on the cliff. The gompa is built on a spur about 300 m above the confluence of the Spiti and Pin rivers, one of the most dramatic settings of any monastery in the Himalayas. Like Key and Tangyud in Komic, it was built as a fort monastery, and in the 17th century Dhankar was the capital of the Spiti kingdom.

The old buildings are fragile: in 2006 the World Monuments Fund named Dhankar one of the 100 most endangered sites in the world. A newer monastery, home to Gelug monks, stands below them in Shichilling village. Look down from the old gompa and you can follow the Pin river into Pin Valley.

Good to know

• At about 3,894 m, Dhankar is a little higher than Kaza, and the walk up to the old gompa is steep.
• Combine it with Tabo on the same road, or with Pin Valley across the river.