Scenic Buddhist Place
About the Place
One of the most scenic towns in Himachal Pradesh, Kaza has been a major Buddhist centre in the Lahul-Spiti valley. Kaza is overlooked by high mountain ridges on all sides. It has two access points : one from Kinnaur valley and the other from the Lahaul valley, 11 km from Ki Monastery, the famous Gelugpa establishment.
The town is divided into the old, as Kaza Khas and new as Kaza Soma sections. The new town contains the administrative buildings. The Tangyud (Tang-rGyud) Gompa dates to the early 14th century and is built like a fortified castle with massive slanted mud walls and battlements with vertical red ochre and white vertical stripes. he town is divided into the old, as Kaza Khas and new as Kaza Soma sections. The new town contains the administrative
buildings. The Tangyud (Tang-rGyud) Gompa dates to the early 14th century and is built like a fortified castle with massive slanted mud walls and battlements with vertical red ochre and white vertical stripes. The other road starts from Manali and after crossing the 13,090-foot (3,990 m) high Rohtang Pass to reach Gramphoo where it joins the road from Keylong and proceeds south along Chandra River till Batal then climbs up to cross the 14,928-foot (4,550 m) high Kunzum pass, enters the Spiti valley to reach Kaza.
The ancient Sakya Tangyud Monastery in a side valley, 4 km from the town. It is also popular with tourists and adventure seekers during summer months because of its central location and connections to rest of the valley and outside. This central location also makes Kaza an ideal base camp for trekking, mountaineering and tours directed to other parts of the valley.Some of the major tourist attractions in and around Kaza beside Tangyud Monastery are the Key Gompa, Kibber village at an elevation of 4205 m. above MSL, Gette Village at an altitude of 4270 m above MSL, Langza village famous for presence of marine
fossils, the Pin Valley National Park, a protected area for Himalayan high altitude wildlife and the Losar village 40 km to the north of Kaza at an altitude of 4079 m above MSL
How to Reach
By air Kaza can be reached either from Manali or via Shimla. It is a 115 kms journey from Manali which takes six hours. Another option is to take bus from Shimla via Kinnaur to Kaza. The route from Shimla to Kaza remains open from May to October and is about 412 kms long. n
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