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ORIGIN
Twelve centuries after the Buddha
attained 'nirvana' the Tibetan King Songstsen Gampo (Sron-bTsan
Sgam-Po) who ruled from 618 to 649 AD, married Wen Chen from the
court of China's Tang dynasty and Bkrikuti Devi, a Nepalese
princess. Under their influence, Buddhism slowly developed in the
Central Himalayan and Trans Himalayan regions of Tibet, Spiti,
Lahaul and Ladakh till it became the predominant faith.
GLIMPSES OF
PRESENT LIFE
Buddhism is the way of life in Ladakh. There
are ancient Buddhist rock engravings all over the region, even in
areas like Dras and the lower Suru Valley
which today are inhabited by an exclusively Muslim population. The
divide between Muslim and Buddhist, Ladakh passes through leh (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 mantra in mane paddle hum and by shorten,
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 penetration of 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 shorten are placed by mosques,
often small unpretentious buildings, or Imambaras imposing
structures in the Islamic style, surmounted by domes of sheet
metal that gleam cheerfully in the sun.
APPEARANCE OF
PEOPLE
 The
traveler from India will look in vain for similarities between the
land and people he has left and those he encounters in Ladakh. 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 from Tibet,
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 around Kargil, there is much in the
people's appearance that suggests a mixed origin. The exception to
this generalization are the Afghans, a community
of Muslims in Leh, the descendants of marriages
between local women and Kashmiri or Central Asian merchants.
WORK CULTURE
The demeanor 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 only work in the
house and field, but also do business and interact freely with men
other that 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
natural 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.
COMPOSITE
HERITAGE
Of the secular culture, the most important
element is the rich oral literature of songs 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 and some of
the most exuberant and lyrical songs are said to be 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.
ITINERARY
Day 01: Delhi - Leh
Day 02: Leh-Lamayuru
Day 03: Lamayuru-Wanlah
Day 04: Wanlah-Hinju Valley
Day 05: Hinju-Konze La-Camp
Day 06: Camp-Sumdo Choon
Day 07: Sumdo Choon-Satpski La-Alchi
Day 08: UleTokpo-Leh
Day 09: Leh-New Delhi
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