A Priceless Himalayan Heritage
Art historians rave about the site because its earliest murals are the finest surviving examples of a style that flourished in Kashmir during the "Second Spreading". Barely a handful of the monasteries founded during this era escaped the Muslim depredations of the fourteenth century. Of them all, Alchi is the most impressive, the least remote and the only place where one doesn't need a special permit to visit. Nestled beside a bend in the milky blue river Indus, amid some dramatic scenery, it's also a serene spot and the perfect place to break a long journey to or from the Ladakhi capital.

The Chos-khor consists of five separate temples, various residential buildings and a scattering of large Chortens, surrounded by a mud and stonewall and a curtain of tall poplar trees. If one is pushed for time, concentrate on the two oldest buildings, the Du-khang and the Sumtsek, both in the middle of the enclosure. Entrance tickets are issued by a caretaker lama from nearby Likkir Gompa, who will unlock the doors for the visitors. To make the most of the paintings vibrant colours, one will need a strong flashlight; but don't use a camera flash as it will damage the murals, last restored in the 16th century.

The Du-Khang
An inscription records that Alchi's oldest structure, the Du-Khang, was erected late in the 11th century by Kaldan Shesrab, a graduate of the now ruined Nyarma Gompa near Tikse, itself founded by the "Great Translator" Rinchen Zangpo. Approached via a walled courtyard and a path that runs under a hollow Chorten, the square temple's wooden doorway is richly carved with meditating Bodhisattvas.

Once one's eyes adjust to the gloom inside, check out the niche in the rear wall where Vairocana, the "Buddha Resplendent", is flanked by the four main Buddha manifestations that appear all over Alchi's temple walls, always presented in their associated colours: Akshobya ("Unshakable"; Blue), Ratnasambhava (""Jewel Born"; Yellow), Amitabha ("Boundless Radiance"; Red) and Amoghasiddhi ("Unfailing Success"; Green). The other walls are decorated with six elaborate Mandalas, interspersed with intricate friezes.

The Sumtsek
Standing to the left of the Du-khang, the Sumtsek is Alchi's most celebrated temple, and the highest achievement of early medieval Indian Buddhist art. Its woodcarvings and paintings, dominated by rich reds and blues, are almost as fresh and vibrant today as they were 900 years ago, when the squat triple storeyed structure was built. The resident lama leads visitors under a delicate wooden façade to the interior of the shrine, shrouded in a womb like darkness broken only by flickering butter lamps. Scan the walls with a flashlight and you'll see why scholars have filled volumes on this chamber alone. Surrounded by a swirling mass of 'Mandalas', Buddhas, Demi Gods and sundry other celestials, a colossal statue of Maitreya, the Buddha-to-come, fills a niche on the ground floor, his head shielded from sight high in the second storey.

Accompanying him are two equally grand Bodhisattvas, their heads peering heads peering serenely down through gaps in the ceiling. Each of these stucco statues wears a figure clinging Dhoti, adorned with different, meticulously detailed motifs. Avalokitesvara, the Bodhisattva of compassion, has pilgrimage sites, court vignettes, palaces and pre-Muslim style Stupas on his robe, while that of Maitreya is decorated with episodes from the life of Gautama Buddha. The robe of Manjushri, destroyer of falsehood, to the right, shows the 84 masters of Tantra, the Mahasiddhas, adopting complex yogic poses in a maze of bold square patterns.

Beautiful Frescoes Of Deities
Among exquisite murals, some repaired in the 16th century, is the famous six-armed green Goddess Prajnaparamita, the "Perfection of Wisdom" central to Mahayana thought, and closely associated with Tara. Heavily bejewelled, she sits on a lotus by Avalokitesvara's gigantic left leg. Amazingly, this, and the multitude of other images that plaster the interior of the Sumtsek, resolve, when viewed from the centre of the shrine, into a harmonious whole.