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
