Likir lies at distance of 62 kms west of Leh. During the time of Lhachen Gyalpo, the fifth king of Ladakh, a religious estate, and the land on which to build the monastery, was offered to Lama Duwang Chosje, a great champion of meditation. The Lama blessed the site and in 1065 the monastery was built. The monastery was encircled by the bodies of the great serpent spirits, the Naga-rajas (Nanda & Taksako) and so its name became widely renowned as Likir (The Naga encircled).