Challenging (high-altitude winter)
Winter Spiti Circuit
Starts Chandigarh (Mumbai/Pune add-on by train)
- From
- Rs. 20,000*
- Nights
- 10
- Open dates
- 6
Field guide · Himachal Pradesh
Tabo travel guide
A village in lower Spiti built around a monastery founded in 996 CE and never abandoned, with thousand-year-old paintings behind plain mud walls.
- 996 CEMonastery founded
- About 3,050 to 3,280 mAltitude
- One nightGood for
Photo: The Milky Way over a dark mountain ridge, the kind of night sky lower Spiti is known for
From outside, Tabo Monastery looks like a cluster of low mud boxes. Inside the main temple are wall paintings and clay figures from the 10th and 11th centuries, which is why people call it the Ajanta of the Himalayas. It was founded in 996 CE by the translator Rinchen Zangpo for the king of Guge, and it has been in use ever since.
The village around it is small, quiet and lower than Kaza, which makes it a good night on the way up. For the wider valley see the Spiti Valley guide.
Overview
Plain outside, painted inside
The monastery complex has nine temples, four decorated stupas and 23 chortens inside one enclosure. The paintings in the main temple are dated to the 10th and 11th centuries, later ones run up to the 20th. The Archaeological Survey of India looks after the site. You will often read that it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is not inscribed. It is reported to be on India's tentative list.
The 14th Dalai Lama held the Kalachakra initiation here in 1983 and again in 1996, for the monastery's thousandth year. Monks live and study in a newer monastery next door.
Why stop here
Tabo is lower than Kaza. Wikipedia gives 3,050 m on one page and 3,280 m on another. Coming up from Kinnaur, a night here before Kaza is a gentler step. Travellers also describe it as the calmest village on the route.
Inside the old temples
It is dark by design, and photography is not allowed inside the old temples, to protect the pigments. Carry a small torch, point it at the floor rather than the walls, and give your eyes a minute.
Things to do
A slow half day
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The old monastery
Walk the enclosure, then go into the main temple, the Tsuglagkhang, with someone who can explain what you are looking at. A monk or caretaker usually unlocks the smaller temples on request. Guides give opening hours of roughly 6 am to 6 pm with no ticket, and donations welcome.
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Morning prayers
Several guides recommend the early prayer session, around 6 am, for chanting by butter-lamp light. Sit quietly at the back.
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The meditation caves
The cliff north of the road is dotted with caves that monks have used for retreat for centuries, some with traces of old painting. A stepped path leads up from the village. A flag at a cave mouth means someone is meditating inside, so leave that one alone.
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Walk the village and fields
Mud houses, stacked fodder and firewood on the roofs, pea and barley fields down to the river. In winter it is a lesson in how a household gets through four frozen months.
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Dhankar on the way up
The cliff-top fort-monastery above the Spiti and Pin rivers is the obvious stop between Tabo and Kaza.
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Gue on the way down
The village that keeps the preserved body of the monk Sangha Tenzin. A detour off the main road towards Kinnaur.
Practical info
Before you go
Best time
May to October, or winter by the Shimla road
Guides give May to September or October for comfortable days. Tabo is on the all-year Shimla and Kinnaur road, so it can be reached in winter when that road is open, with far fewer places to stay.
Getting there
On NH505
About 47 km down the valley from Kaza, and the first major stop in Spiti when you come from Kinnaur through Nako and Sumdo. Buses between Reckong Peo and Kaza pass through.
Altitude
Lower than Kaza
Roughly 3,050 to 3,280 m depending on the source. Mild altitude symptoms are still possible. The usual rules apply: water, rest, no alcohol on the first night.
Etiquette
It is a working monastery
Shoes off, shoulders and knees covered, no flash and no photos inside the old temples. Walk clockwise around stupas and prayer wheels. Do not touch the paintings.
Cash and phone
Bring cash
Do not count on an ATM in Tabo. The reliable ones are in Reckong Peo, and Kaza has unreliable ones. Network is patchy.
Build your packing list
Tell the builder where and when you are going and it gives you a list you can tick off.
Open the Packing List BuilderGo with Charkadam
Tabo, with a group
Tabo is on the route of our Winter Spiti Circuit. The trip page has the current day-by-day plan and what is included.
* Indicative starting price. The trip page shows the price for each date.
Questions
Tabo, answered
Tradition and inscriptions date its founding to 996 CE, by the translator Rinchen Zangpo. Wall paintings in the main temple are dated to the 10th and 11th centuries.
No. It is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India and is reported to be on India's tentative list, but it is not an inscribed World Heritage Site.
Not inside the old temples. Photography is prohibited there to protect the paintings. You can photograph the exterior and the village.
One night is ideal. It gives you the monastery, the caves and an evening in the village, and it helps with acclimatisation before Kaza.
Keep reading
Guides nearby
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Spiti's base town
Kaza
The market, the cafes, the fuel, and the day trips to the high villages.
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The lake village
Nako
A small lake, thousand-year-old temples and the first real altitude on the Spiti road.
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The whole valley
Spiti Valley
The route in, the monasteries, the high villages and how to handle the altitude.
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Facing Kinner Kailash
Kalpa
Orchards, old Kinnauri houses and the sunrise across the Sutlej gorge.
