Located near Spituk Monastery on the banks of the Indus River in Leh, Ladakh, the Murals of Tragkhung Kowache ("the cave in the rock, the interior of which is wider than its entrance") represent a significant yet historically overlooked treasure of early West Tibetan and Kashmiri Buddhist art.
Explored in detail by scholar Peter van Ham starting in 2009, these cave temples form the core of an ancient sacred complex surrounded by 10th-to-12th-century stupas arranged in patterns directing towards the sanctuary. Despite heavy soot accumulation from historical usage as shelters and dwelling spaces, the cave walls preserve intricate mandalas, Buddha figures in medallions, and detailed palace architectures that date stylistically back to the 11th or 12th century.
Iconographically, the paintings exhibit striking parallels to early Himalayan Buddhist sites like the Kyilkhor Khang (Mandala Temple) in Tabo and Lhakhang Gongma in Nako, rather than the more famous murals at Alchi. The best-preserved mandala—measuring approximately 2.5 meters in diameter on the left temple wall—features a central Buddha in ascetic attire displaying the dharmachakra mudra, surrounded by double lotus petals, twenty deities in medallions, multi-layered palace roofs flanked by gazelles and wheels of law, and protective outer borders of flaming aureoles and vajra rings. Protected today behind a traditional Ladakhi house, these cave murals provide invaluable scholarly insight into the early artistic traditions, monastic expansion, and iconography of the Western Himalayas.
New building under construction, attached to the temple-caves |
Entering the new building |
Entering the northern temple-cave |
Interior of the northern temple-cave |
Entering the southern temple-cave |
Interior of the southern temple-cave |
Spituk Monastery seen from the temple-caves |
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