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A female tourist, Natalia, from England sits at a summit near Shanti Stupa and contemplates the view.

Prayer flags are an integral part of the Ladakh landscape, seen on hilltops, trees, and buildings. The flags are often white in color, representing the purity of thought and are supposed to carry the prayers of the faithful on the wings of the wind. These prayer flags are of four types; those for luck are long and narrow victory banners which have a substantial amount of text on them whereas others bear the symbol of the Dorje (thunderbolt). The Wind Horse flags depict a horse with a jewel on its back.

Buddhism in Ladakh has flourished for more than two millennia, with the early Buddhist influence coming from India as evidenced from the early monasteries of Alchi and Mulbek, with their distinctive Indian architecture. Guru Padmasambhava, considered to be the pioneer of Tibetan Buddhism, introduced the Vajrayana Buddhism to Tibet in the 8th century and Ladakh came firmly under the Tibetan Buddhist influence in the 14th century. Today, each monastery in Ladakh belongs to a specific sector and follows a definite tradition while co-existing with all other sectors.

The Buddhist Way. (2018). [museum display board]. Leh, Ladakh, India: Hall of Fame.