- Description

Matho Monastery, or Matho Gonpa or Mangtro Monastery or Mangtro Gonpa, from the Tibetan "mang" that means "many" and "tro" that means "happiness", is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery located 26 kilometres southeast of Leh in Ladakh, northern India, on the banks of the Indus River.The village of Matho is located at the mouth of a deep gorge running out of the Zanskar Range and across the Indus. It is directly opposite Thikse Monastery. Matho and Skidmang in the eastern Ladakh (130 km to the east of Leh) are the only example in Ladakh of the Sakyapa sect of Tibetan Buddhism. Because Matho does not lie on the main highway from Leh, it sees fewer visitors than Hemis, Thiske or Shey. However, it is known to outsiders for its annual Oracle Matho Nagrang Festival, held on the 14th and 15th days of the first month of the Tibetan calendar. During this festival, two oracles, known as "Rongtsan", are said to inhabit for a few hours the body of two monks.