Zanskar, Zahar (locally) or Zangskar, is a tehsil of Kargil district, in the Indian union territory of Ladakh. The administrative centre is Padum. Zanskar, together with the neighboring region of Ladakh, was briefly a part of the kingdom of Guge in Western Tibet. Zanskar lies 250 km south of Kargil town on NH301.
Zanskar mountains towering over Padum
The Phugtal Monastery in south-east Zanskar
Lingshed Monastery
Zanskar Range, sunrise at Rangdum
Kargil district is a district in Indian-administered Ladakh in the disputed Kashmir-region.
It is one of the two districts comprising the Indian-administered union territory of Ladakh. The district headquarters are in the city of Kargil. The district is bounded by the Indian-administered union territory of Jammu and Kashmir to the west, the Pakistani-administered administrative territory of Gilgit–Baltistan to the north, Ladakh's Leh district to the east, and the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh to the south. Encompassing three historical regions known as Purig, Dras and Zanskar, the district lies to the northeast of the Great Himalayas and encompasses the majority of the Zanskar Range. Its population inhabits the river valleys of the Dras, Suru, Wakha Rong, and Zanskar.
View of Kargil Town
Kargil district river valleys
The Empire of King Nyimagon in Western Tibet about 975-1000 AD. The eldest son Palgyimon received the bulk of the empire under the name Maryul, based in Leh.
Kargil city at night