There is a small artistic treasure trove that has been open in India since 2007 but has recently garnered attention from Buddhism scholars and art historians alike, The Hemis Museum, located in Ladakh India, is located within the Hemis Monastery in an area of recent booming interest in Buddhist study and learning. For many the area is known as “Little Tibet”.
Last year 40,000 tourists flocked to the area with a good 26,000 being foreigners interested (and many for the first time) in Buddhist culture. “Things have changed quite a lot in terms of values, traditions, culture,” Jigmet Wangchuck Namgyal, of the Ladakhi royal family, told AFP. Were royal titles still in use, Namgyal would be king, and he believes that the sudden boom in tourism and the subsequent inflow of cash as well as outside influences may be having a negative effect on Ladakh. “You should be adapting yourself as a tourist to Ladakhis, not the other way,” he told AFP, adding that education for locals in terms of their indigenous culture would better prepare them for the perceived cultural encroachment by outsiders. Namgyal says that at current only about one percent of the museum’s holdings are on display. A monk at the Hemis monastery, estimates the collection includes about 2,500 thangka paintings dating back to the second century, as well as some 1,500 statues.  The Hemis Monastery was established by Ladakhi Dharma King Sengye Namgyal in the 17th century. It is the headquarter of the Drukpa lineage and all the monasteries throughout Ladakh are administered by it. It also trains Lamas for the royal monasteries at Leh, Shey and Basgo.