Ladakh is a mountainous region in the disputed northwest Jammu and Kashmir area in north India and in the area known as the Trans-Himalayas. Ladakh was an independent kingdom for nine centuries, but it was very strongly influenced by Buddhist Tibet and neighbouring Muslim lands. The architecture of Ladakh is almost identical to that of Tibet, in regards to both residential and religious buildings. The main tourist sites relate to the many beautiful and serene monasteries of Tibetan Buddhism and also to the beauty of the region’s stunning rich natural, although largely barren, landscape.