Plan your trip · Lamayuru
What's on in Lamayuru
Lamayuru's calendar is set by the monastery and the Tibetan lunar year. The big event is Yuru Kabgyat, two days of masked dances in the gompa courtyard.
Nothing dated is confirmed for Lamayuru right now, so here is the year instead — the fixtures that come round annually, and what each one means for a visit.
The year in Lamayuru
Lamayuru runs on a short season: the festivals that matter cluster into the months the passes and roads are comfortably open, and a lot of the calendar simply stops in deep winter. Broadly, Jul – Sep and Apr – Jun is when visiting is most comfortable here, and that is when the calendar is busiest — which also means accommodation is most expensive and books furthest ahead.
Most of these follow lunar calendars and move by weeks from year to year, so treat the windows below as the season rather than the date, and confirm the year’s dates before you book around one.
Across Ladakh
Hemis Festival
🗓️ June–JulyTwo days of masked dance at Hemis monastery, the largest of the Ladakhi monastic festivals.
Planning: Peak season — permits, rooms and cars all need booking well ahead.
Nationwide
Diwali
🗓️ October–NovemberThe biggest holiday of the year — lamps, sweets, fireworks and a week of visiting family. Cities are lit up and markets stay open late.
Holi
🗓️ MarchColoured powder and water, thrown at anyone within reach, mostly through the morning.
Navratri and Dussehra
🗓️ September–OctoberNine nights of fasting, music and dance, ending with Dussehra. What it looks like changes completely by region — garba in Gujarat, pandals in Bengal, processions in the south.
Eid al-Fitr
🗓️ shifts ~11 days earlier each yearThe end of Ramadan. The old quarters of Delhi, Hyderabad, Lucknow and Bhopal are at their best in the evenings through the preceding month, when food streets run past midnight.
Makar Sankranti and Pongal
🗓️ mid-JanuaryThe harvest turn, marked with kites in the west and north and four days of Pongal in Tamil Nadu.
Yuru Kabgyat
Yuru Kabgyat is Lamayuru Monastery's festival of masked dances, or cham. Monks in heavy brocade costumes and painted masks dance in the courtyard of Lamayuru Monastery, and the festival ends with an effigy being burnt to mark the end of ego and evil. It usually falls in June, sometimes early July, and runs for two days. The monastery also holds a second masked dance earlier in the year, in the second Tibetan month.
Dates move each year with the lunar calendar. Check them with a Leh operator or the tourist office before you plan around the festival, and book rooms early; the village has only a small number of beds.
Watching the dances
Arrive early to find a place on the courtyard steps or the rooftops. The dances are a religious ceremony, not a show put on for visitors. Do not walk across the dancing ground, and keep the camera flash off. Many locals come in their best clothes, and you may see goncha robes and the turquoise perak headdress; ask before photographing people.
Losar
Losar, the Ladakhi new year, usually falls around December or January. It is a family festival of lamps, food and visits, marked in villages across Ladakh. Few visitors are in Lamayuru at that time of year, and winter roads make it hard to reach.
Nearby festivals
Hemis Tsechu, at Hemis Monastery east of Leh, usually falls in June or July and is the largest monastic festival in Ladakh. If your dates fall between the two, you can plan a trip to see both.
Harvest season
In late August and September the village cuts and threshes its barley. It is not a festival, but it is the busiest time of the farming year and a good time for pictures of Lamayuru Village. Ask before walking through fields.
Questions
Lamayuru — FAQ
When is the Yuru Kabgyat festival at Lamayuru?
It usually falls in June, sometimes early July, and lasts two days. The date follows the Tibetan lunar calendar, so check the year's dates before booking.
Can tourists photograph the Yuru Kabgyat dances?
Photography of the dances in the courtyard is generally accepted, but keep the flash off, stay off the dancing ground and follow any instruction from the monks.
Is it hard to find a room during Yuru Kabgyat?
Yes. Lamayuru has only a few guesthouses, and they fill quickly. Book early or stay in a nearby village and drive in early.