Tabo Monastery

Tabo Monastery is India's oldest continuously operating Buddhist monastery, founded in 996 AD by the great Tibetan Buddhist master Rinchen Zangpo, and often called the "Ajanta of the Himalayas" for its extraordinary collection of ancient clay sculptures, frescoes, and illuminated manuscripts. A UNESCO World Heritage nominee, the mud-and-timber monastic complex in Spiti Valley houses nine temples containing some of the finest examples of early Himalayan Buddhist art in existence. Tabo Monastery Spiti is a sacred pilgrimage site for Tibetan Buddhists and a world-class heritage site for art historians and travellers.