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Ladakh
Ladakh has a rich landscape, peopled with different ethnic groups.
The source of the Indus is in Tibet and it enters into Ladakh through
Chantang, the region of the Changpah nomads. These are fiercely
independent people, proud of their wanderings in th e Himalayas.
Most of them are Tibetan refugees, living on the raising of yaks,
sheep and particularly goats whose wool, treated in a special manner,
takes on the magic conjured by the name pashmina, also called Cashmere.
This precious article is sold in Leh, in the Indus valley where
the, inhabitants, belonging to the Tibeto-Mongoloid race have been
sedentary since 13 centuries. Continuing this journey along the
Indus, we meet with the Zanskar, coming down from the heart of the
Himalayas. It is the valley marking the border between Ladakh and
Kashmir. Further to the west, the land of the Drogpahs (Dards) opens
up its doors. These Aryans come f rom Baltistan and they belonged
to the kingdom of Gilgit. Just five Dard v illages belong to Ladakh;
they present to our eyes an extraordinary world, which gives one
a feeling of living through a meeting with the story of humanity.
"Ladakh is truly a self-sufficient land, producing all that
it needs except tea", says Major Gompertz in Magic Ladakh.
This self-sufficiency is based essentially on an economy of small
agricultural communities dependent on glacial torrents which, in
wild and joyous tumult, come and meet the large Himalayan rivers.
Desert conditions have forced the farmers of these celestial lands
to develop unique irrigation systems. Canals draw water from far
inside the mountains to guide them towards the fields which have
been terraced to facilitate the work of the precious liquid. They
sink into the rock, forming labyrinths stretching over several kilometres,
a challenge to man, taken up 1500 years ago. The Ladakhis cannot
develop the production of yak cheese as i s done in Nepal for their
herds are too small. Products made from fresh milk are therefore
important. Each family owns some goats, cows and dzos (yak-cow).
The herds follow the mountain paths and return in the evening to
the quiet villages, or they mov e to new pastures for a summer between
sky and earth.
Adventures & Sports
Ladakh offers many options for undertaking adventure activities
amidst landscapes of spectacular, rugged beauty. These mainly include
river rafting, mountaineering
and trekking.
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The Festival
Many of the annual festivals of the Gompas take place in winter,
which is a relatively idle time for majority of the people. These
take the form of dance-dramas in the gompa courtyards. Lamas, attired
in colourful robes and wearing masks, perform mimes symbolising
various aspects of the religion such as the progress of the individual
soul and its purification or the triumph of good over evil. Local
people flock from near and far to these events.
The biggest and most famous of the monastic festivals is that of
Hemis, which falls in late June or early July, and is dedicated
to Padmasambhava. Every 12 years, the gompa's greatest treasures,
a huge Thangka, is ritually exhibited. Its next unveiling is due
to take place in A.D 2004. Other monasteries, which have summer
festivals, are Lamayuru (early July), Phyang (late July/ early August),
Tak-thok (after Phyang) and Karsha in Zanskar (after Phyang). Like
Hemis, the Phyang festival too involves the unveiling of a gigantic
thangka, though here it is done every third year.
Hemis Festival
The courtyard of Hemis Gompa - the biggest Buddhist monastery in
Ladakh, is the stage for the famous 'Hemis' festival, that celebrates
the birth anniversary of Guru Padmasambhava. The colourful two day
pageant falls on the 10th day (Tse-Chu) of the Tibetan lunar month.
The local people are seen dressed up in their finest traditional
garb for the occasion.
Spectacular masked dances and sacred plays by Lamas called 'chhams'
are performed around the central flagpole, to the accompaniment
of cymbals, drums and long horns. Guru Padmasambhava, the founder
of Tibetan Buddhism is believed to have fought with demons for the
safety of the local people. The Lamas wear colourful costumes, i.e.
long brocade gowns set off by quaint headgears. Masks worn by the
lamas represent various guardian divinities of the Dugpa order,
of which Hemis is the leading establishment in Ladakh. The dances
end with the ritual destruction of a sacrificial offering of a human
figure made of dough by the leader of the Black Hat dancers. The
pieces are then scattered in the four directions depicting a re-enactment
of the assassination of the Tibetan apostate king Lang-dar-ma by
a Buddhist monk in AD842 or cleansing of the soul after death.
'Rimpoche' or the head lama presides over the function. The lamas
recite mantras associated with the various episodes of the 'chhams'.
The festival takes an auspicious turn every 12 years in the Tibetan
Year of the Monkey, when the two-storey high ' Thanka' depicting
Padmasambhava is displayed. This famous 'Thanka', richly embroidered
with pearls and semi-precious stones, is due to be displayed next
in AD 2004.
A colourful fair, displaying some beautiful handicrafts, is the
special highlight of the festival. The so-called 'devil dances'
constitute an important element in the social entertainment of the
Ladakhis. The uproarious song-and-dance mirth, created by these
mask dances, which invariably depict the victory of the right over
evil, is kept by the all-round consumption of huge bowls of 'chang',
Ladakhis own country liquor.
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Wild Life
Yak
Yak or dong is a wild ox and the largest animal found in Ladakh.
It is definitely more imposing than its placid domestic counterpart.
Immensely shaggy and weighing about a tone it has curved horns whose
tips can be as wide apart as 90 cm. and measure 76 cm. over the
curves. It can easily be identified by its long black hair, which
is tinged with gray at the muzzle. Spending its summers at a height
above 6,000 meters, in winter it moves in herds to the lakes, marshes
and lower valleys.
Nyan
Largest and most magnificent of wild sheep in the whole world, it
is also called the Great Tibetan sheep (Ovis ammon). Roughly 200
of these sheep are found in the extreme eastern portion of Ladakh.
The horns of the nyan measure up to 145 cm. and the animal normally
remains at a great height, rarely descending to a level below 4,500
meters.
Urial
Urial or shapu (Ovis orientalis) is the smallest sheep in the world.
Its body, which is just about as tall as its horns usually weighs
85 Kg. and has horns measuring upto 99 cm. These sheep prefer the
grassy mountain slopes. The breeding of this species, as is the
case with most sheep, takes place during December-January and they
give birth to their young ones around May. The need for protection
of the urial is great as they are within easy reach of hunters.
Their numbers have been declining rapidly and it is estimated that
there are no more than 500 in Ladakh.
Bharal
The most common and wide spread of the sheep in the Ladakh region
is the bharal or the blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur). Found at an altitude
of almost 6,000 m. In summer they graze in huge herds on the rich
and abundant grasses of the alpine meadows. Their brownish-gray
colouring provides them with protective camouflage and as they often
stand motionless they can be extremely difficult to spot but, when
alarmed, bharal will bolt swiftly to safety. Strangely, bharal seems
to bear some morphological traits of both sheep and goats.
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Weather
Minus 30'C, minus 40'C are normal temperatures for practically all
Ladakhis. The wind blows over the valleys with its crystalline sounds
and the men seek a little warmth around their voluminous stoves.
Yet another contrast is that summer is short but ho t. That is when
the Ladakhis set to work ardently in their fields. Then barley,
the staple cereal out of which tsampah (flour) is made, vegetables
and fruits receive their fullest attention.
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Ladakh - Adventures, Sports, Festivals, Wild Life
& Weather of Ladakh city of Jammu & Kashmir
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