#ThikseGompa or #ThikseMonastery (also transliterated from #Ladakhi as #Tiksey, #Thiksey or #Thiksay) is a gompa (Tibetan-style monastery) affiliated with the Gelug sect of #Tibetan #Buddhism. It is located on top of a hill in Thiksey approximately 19 kilometres east of #Leh in #Ladakh, India. It is noted for its resemblance to the #PotalaPalace in Lhasa, Tibet and is the largest gompa in central Ladakh, notably containing a separate set of buildings for female renunciates that has been the source of significant recent building and reorganisation. The monastery is located at an altitude of 3,600 metres (11,800 ft) in the #IndusValley. It is a twelve-storey complex and houses many items of #Buddhist art such as stupas, statues, thangkas, wall paintings and swords. One of the main points of interest is the #MaitreyaTemple installed to commemorate the visit of the 14th #DalaiLama to this monastery in 1970; it contains a 15 metres (49 ft) high statue of Maitreya, the largest such statue in Ladakh, covering two stories of the building. https://www.instagram.com/p/B9X5M3mBGVE/?igshid=hiot2olre2s7