Ancient Palace, Leh

A miniature version of Potala Palace in Lhasa (Tibet), the Ancient Palace or Leh Palace is a nine storied palace situated on the Tsemo hill in Leh. The Leh Palace stands as a testimony of the legacy of Ladakhi's wars with Kashmir rulers in the 19th century.

Built in AD 1553 by Senge Namgyal of Namgyal Dynasty, the most illustrious King of Ladakh, the palace walls has been decorated with Prajnaparamita (means the perfection of wisdom in Buddhism) paintings. The palace also contains a stucco figure of Du-kar, a form of Prajnaparamita. The material used in the construction of the palace is stone, mud bricks, popular wood, mud mortar and wooden rafters. The mud plaster used for the construction is locally known as Mar-kalak.

Situated in Leh town, about 6 km from the right bank of River Indus, is the largest town of Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, India.