Joseph Chinock Explains the Alchi Monastery in Ladakh, India contains many Vajrayana Buddhist masterpieces rendered in a baroque style synthesizing aspects of Tibetan Buddhist, Hindu and even Kashmiri Zoroastrian motifs. The site is recognized as a masterpiece of Buddhist art and cosmology. The creation of the Alchi complex is attributed to a monk/scholar, Rinchen Zangpo, in the 10th century. Zangpo was directed by the King of Tibet Yeshe Od to spread Buddhism throughout the Tran Himalayan Region by building an extensive series of temples. In total 21 scholars were sent to Nepal, Bhutan, Darjeeling and Ladakh (at that time independent kingdoms.) but only 2, including Zangpo, survived the perilous journey. According to tradition Zangpo succeeded in creating 108 monasteries of which Alchi is the greatest.