Hemis Festival 2026 to be celebrated in Ladakh on June 24 and 25

Key facts

• The Hemis Festival, also known as Hemis Tsechu, is scheduled to be held on June 24 and 25, 2026, at the Hemis Monastery in Ladakh.
• The two-day celebration marks the birth anniversary of Guru Padmasambhava, also known as Guru Rinpoche, who is credited with spreading Tantric Buddhism across the Himalayas in the 8th century.
• Hemis Monastery, located approximately 40 km from Leh, is a major centre of the Drukpa lineage and was re-established in 1672 by King Sengge Namgyal.
• The festival features the Cham dance, a sacred masked performance by monks that depicts stories of good triumphing over evil using traditional instruments like long horns and cymbals.
• The event includes the unfurling of giant thangkas, which are sacred Buddhist religious paintings, with the largest thangka in Ladakh being displayed every 12th year.