Visit
the Amazing Destinations of All India Travel
- Rajasthan,
Kerala, Goa,
Delhi, Mumbai
for Adventure,
Cultural,
Wildlife, Religious,
Beaches & Rail
Tours. Find over 600 Travel Agents & Hotels Reservation Networks
for comfortable holidays of a lifetime in the Indian Sub-continent - India,
Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet & Sri Lanka.
The
faces and physique of the Ladakhis, and the clothes they wear,
are more akin to those of Tibet and Central Asia than of India.
The original population may have been Dards, an indo-Aryan race
from down the indus. But immigration fromTibet, perhaps a millennium
or so ago, largely overwhelmed the culture of the Dards and obliterated
their racial characteristics. in eastern and central Ladakh, today's
population seems to be mostly of Tibetan origin. Further west,
in and arond Kargil, there ismuch in the people's appearance that
suggests a mixed origin. The exception to this generalizationis
the Arghons, a community of Muslims in Leh, the descendants of
marriages between local women and Kashmiri or Central Asian merchants.
Buddhism reached Tibet from India via Loadkah, and there are ancient
Buddhist rock engravings all over the ragion, even in areas like
Dras and the lower Suru Valley which today are inhabited by an
exclusively Muslim population. The divide between Muslim, and
Buddhis Ladakh passes through Mulbekh (on the Kargil-Leh road)
and between the villages of Parkachick and Rangdum in the Suru
Valley, though there are pockets of Muslim population further
east, in Padum (Zanskar), in Nubra Valley and in and around Leh.
The approach to Buddhist village is invariable marked by mani
walls which are long chest-high structures faced with engraved
stones bearing the mantrra im mane padme hum and by chorten, commemorative
cairns, like stone pepper-pots. Many villagers are crowned with
a gompa or monastery which may be anything from an imposing complex
of temples, prayer halls and monks dwellings, to a tiny hermitage
housing a single image and home to solitary lama.
Islam too came from the west. A peaceful penetrationof the Shia
sect spearheaded by missionaries, its success was guaranteed by
the early conversion of the sub-rulers of Dras, Kargil and the
Suru Valley. in these areas, mani walls and chorten are placed
by mosques, oftern small unpretentious buildings, or Imambaras
imposing structures in the Islamic style, surmounted by domes
of sheet metal that gleam cheerfully in the sun.
The
demeanour of the people is affected by their religion, especially
among the women. Among the Buddhists, as also the Muslims of the
Leh area, women not noly work inthe house and field, but also
do business and interact freely with men other thatn their own
relations. in Kargil and its adjoining regions on the other hand,
it is only in the last few years that women are emerging from
semi-seclusion and taking jobs other than traditional ones like
farming and house -keeping. The natureal joie-de-vivre of the
Ladakhis is given free rein by the ancient traditions of the region.
Monastic and other religious festivals, many of which fall in
winter, provide the excuse for convivial gatherings. Summer pastimes
all over the region are archery and polo. Among the Buddhists,
these often develop into open-air parties accompanied by dance
and song, at which chang, the local brew made from fermented barley,
flows freely.
Of the secular culture, the most important element is the rich
oral leterature ofsongs and poems for every occasion, as well
as local versions of the Kesar Saga, the Tibetan national epic.
Buddhists and Muslims. in fact,the most highly developed versions
of the Kesar Saga,a nd some of the most exuberant and lyrical
songs are said tobe found in Shakar-Chigtan, an area of the western
Kargil district exclusively inhabited by Muslims, unfortunately
not freely open to tourists yet. Ceremonial and public events
are accompanied by the characteristic music of surna and daman
(oboe and drum), originally introduced into Ladakh from Muslim
Baltistan, but now played only by Buddhist musicians known as
Mons.
The
faces and physique of the Ladakhis, and the clothes they wear,
are more akin to those of Tibet and Central Asia than of India.
The original population may have been Dards, an indo-Aryan race
from down the indus. But immigration fromTibet, perhaps a millennium
or so ago, largely overwhelmed the culture of the Dards and obliterated
their racial characteristics. in eastern and central Ladakh, today's
population seems to be mostly of Tibetan origin. Further west,
in and arond Kargil, there ismuch in the people's appearance that
suggests a mixed origin. The exception to this generalizationis
the Arghons, a community of Muslims in Leh, the descendants of
marriages between local women and Kashmiri or Central Asian merchants.
The
demeanour of the people is affected by their religion, especially
among the women. Among the Buddhists, as also the Muslims of the
Leh area, women not noly work inthe house and field, but also
do business and interact freely with men other thatn their own
relations. in Kargil and its adjoining regions on the other hand,
it is only in the last few years that women are emerging from
semi-seclusion and taking jobs other than traditional ones like
farming and house -keeping. The natureal joie-de-vivre of the
Ladakhis is given free rein by the ancient traditions of the region.
Monastic and other religious festivals, many of which fall in
winter, provide the excuse for convivial gatherings. Summer pastimes
all over the region are archery and polo. Among the Buddhists,
these often develop into open-air parties accompanied by dance
and song, at which chang, the local brew made from fermented barley,
flows freely. 
