Where Buddha meets the stars in a fossil village

Located at a height of 4491 metres in Himachal Pradesh’s Spiti valley, with a population of a few hundred people, Langza is one of the most scenic villages you’ll ever come across.

The region of Langza was once under the Tethys sea millions of years ago. Close to Langza you can also visit Komic, the highest village with a motorable road, and Hikkim, the highest post office in the world.

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When the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates collided, it gave birth to these majestic mountains hiding in them the remains of the lifeforms from that time such as fossils called ammonoids.

With a little bit of digging and searching, you can also find fossils in and around Langza. Ammonoids, for instance, are found as fossils in marine rocks.

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Langza is popular for three major things besides its overall beauty – the Buddha statue, astrophotography and fossils.

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The Buddha statue sits close to the Langza monastery and overlooks the entire landscape. If you’re fortunate enough, you’ll be able to see the Milky Way galaxy and millions of stars right above the statue. As the sun sets, the stars come out. You’ll find flocks of photographers standing in the dark, fighting the strong cold winds to capture the night sky from this point.

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Langza sits at the lap of Mount Chau Chau Kang Nilda (The Princess Mountain) and the whole landscape is a sight to behold.

The inhabitants of the region are mostly farmers and grow green peas and barley which are later sold in the market in Kaza and also at Chandigarh. With the influx of tourists, some of the villagers have opened homestays.

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