Lamayuru, Yusmarg, Jammu & Kashmir India

Lamayuru or Yuru Gompa is a Tibetan Buddhist Gompa (monastery) in Kargil District, Western Ladakh, India, situated on the Srinagar - Kargil - Leh road 15 km east of the Fotu La, at a height of 3,510 m.A. H. Francke states that, "according to popular tradition," it was originally the foremost Bonpo monastery in Ladakh and was called gYung-drung Monastery (from Tibetan: gYung-drung - a swastika - a popular symbol in Bon, Buddhism, and other religions); also gYung-drung-bon is the name of the Bon religion.

The Indian scholar Mahasiddhacarya Naropa (956-1041 CE), allegedly caused a lake which filled the valley to dry up and founded Lamayuru Monastery. The oldest surviving building at Lamayuru is a temple called Seng-ge-sgang, at the southern end of the Lamayuru rock, which is attributed to the famous builder-monk Rinchen Zangpo (958-1055 CE).

Lamayuru is one of the largest and oldest gompas in Ladakh, with a population of around 150 permanent monks resident.It has, in the past, housed up to 400 monks, many of which are now based in gompas in surrounding villages. Lamayuru is host to two annual masked dance festivals, in the second and fifth months of the Tibetan lunar calendar, when all the monks from these surrounding gompas gather together to pray.