Hanle

Hanle lies in a remote high valley of eastern Ladakh, on an old branch of the route between Ladakh and Tibet. Its fortified monastery belongs to the Drukpa Kagyu tradition. The Tibetan lama Taktsang Repa Ngawang Gyatso founded it in the seventeenth century with the patronage of the Ladakhi king Sengge Namgyal, making it one of the king's principal religious foundations.

Hanle also served Sengge as a place of residence and a stronghold. After Ladakh intervened in the affairs of neighbouring Guge around 1630, the displaced ruler of Guge was brought to Hanle. Sengge Namgyal died here in 1642 on his return from a campaign against Mongol forces. His association with the monastery joined the religious authority of the Drukpa lineage to the power of the Namgyal kings on Ladakh's eastern frontier.