Tabo, Himachal Pradesh

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Tabo Village as seen from Tabo Caves

Tabo is a small town in the district of Lahaul and Spiti on the banks of the Spiti River in Himachal Pradesh, India. The town lies on the road between Rekong Peo and Kaza (alternative spelling: Kaja), the sub-divisional headquarters of Spiti. The town surrounds a Buddhist monastery which, according to legend, is said to be over a thousand years old. His Holiness the Dalai Lama has expressed his desire to retire to Tabo, since he maintains that the monastery at Tabo is one of the holiest. In 1996, HH the Dalai Lama conducted the Kalachakra initiation ceremony in Tabo, which coincided with the millennium anniversary celebrations of the Tabo monastery. The ceremony was attended by thousands of Buddhists from across the world.

The temples within the monastery complex in Tabo have a plethora of wall paintings and mud statues. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) attempted to restore some paintings that were ravaged by time, but were not very successful. Photography, however, is not permitted inside the monastery.

There are a few hotels in Tabo, of which the Banjara Camps retreat is the most luxurious. Be prepared to demand a heater or freeze, as the temperatures plummet at night. There are other hotels and hostels at Tabo, including the monastery's own guest houses.

Communication to the main villages around the area is by way of satellite phones and occasional goods carriers and buses that populate the road between Tabo and Kaza.