ancient stupas chortens in the form of arches-entrances in the buddhist monastery of alchi in ladakh on the tibetan plateau

alchi ancient arch archaic archesentrances architecture art attraction buddhism buddhist building chorten chortens cloudy cone cult culture dome entrance famous form gompa harmika heritage high himalayas historic holy india ladakh landmark monastery monument mound northwest outdoors plateau portal praying relic religion reliquary sacred shrine sign spectacular spire spirituality stupa stupas summer symbol temple tibetan tradition travel uddesika umbrella weather white worship