Korzok, is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery belonging to the Drukpa Lineage. It is located in the Korzok village, on the northwestern bank of Tso Moriri (lake) in Leh District, Ladakh, India. The gompa (monastery), at 4,560 metres (14,960 ft), houses a Shakyamuni Buddha and other statues. It is home to about 70 monks. In the past, the monastery was the headquarters of the Rupshu Valley. It is an independent monastery under Korzok Rinpoche, widely known as Langna Rinpoche. The 3rd Korzok Rinpoche, Kunga Lodro Ningpo was the founder of Korzok Monastery. This revered monastery is 300 years old. The Tso Moriri Lake below it is also held in reverence, and considered equally sacred by the local people. With the efforts of the WWF-India the Tsomoriri has been pledged as a 'Sacred Gift for a Living Planet' by the local community (mostly Chang-pa herdsmen). As a result, the area has been opened up for tourists. Tso Moriri or Lake Moriri (Tibetan: ལྷ་མོའི་བླ་མཚོ, Wylie: lha mo bla mtsho) or "Mountain Lake", is a lake in the Ladakhi part of the Changthang Plateau (literally: northern plains) in Jammu and Kashmir in northern India. The official name of the land and water reserve here is the Tso Moriri Wetland Conservation Reserve. The lake is at an altitude of 4,522 m (14,836 ft). It is the largest of the high altitude lakes entirely within India and entirely within Ladakh in this Trans-Himalayan biogeographic region. It is about 16 miles (26 km) north to south in length and two to three miles (3 to 5 km) wide. The lake has no outlet at present and the water is brackish though not very perceptible to taste. The lake is fed by springs and snow-melt from neighboring mountains. Most water enters the lake in two major stream systems, one entering the lake from the north, the other from the southwest. Both stream systems include extensive marshes where they enter the lake. It formerly had an outlet to the south, but this has become blocked and the lake
Established in the 17th century, Hemis Monastery, 45km south of Leh, is the most important monastic institution in Ladakh. Located just below the famous cave of Gotsangpa and the Gotsang retreat center, it is cradled in a beautiful valley, surrounded by streams and fronted by long mani stone walls. The Second Taktsang Repa took the son of King Delden Namgyal, Prince Mipham Tsewang Thrinley Tenzin Migyur Dorje, popularly known as Gyalsey Rinpoche, under his care and gave him the basic spiritual education. Gyalsey Rinpoche later went to Tibet and received his full ordination vows from Panchen Lobsang Palden Yeshe. He received all the transmissions and empowerments of the Drukpa lineage from the Seventh Gyalwang Drukpa, Thrinley Shingta (1718-1766), from Yongdzin Jampal Pawo and from Thuchen Choegon. On his return to Hemis, Gyalsey Rinpoche constructed main assembly hall and invited the Gyalwang Drukpa and Kathok Rigdzin Tsewang Norbu to consecrate it. He also received many teachings from them. The code of conduct for the monks of Hemis and Chemdrey monasteries, drafted by them and written on yellow brocade, form the basis of monastic discipline to this day. Gyalsey Rinpoche also built a number of statues at Chemdrey Monastery. He introduced the Hemis festival and the ritual mask dances that are performed at Chemdrey Monastery in the ninth Tibetan month every year. In the later part of his life, he built the three-foot gilded copper statue of the Buddha. On the passing away of Gyalwang Drukpa Thrinley Shingta, Gyalsey Rinpoche built a four-foot silver statue and a silver stupa and printed the scriptural text mDo Pema Karpo in gold as a memorial tribute to him. Later, he invited the Eighth Gyalwang Drukpa, Kunzig Chonang (1768-1822), to consecrate these. The Gyalwang Drukpa used all the offerings he received to construct the fifteen-foot silver stupa, adorned with precious stones, which is today still visible in Hemis. Gyalsey Rinpoche commissioned Palha, the most r
