Ladakh "land of high passes" is
a region of India in the state of Jammu and Kashmir that lies between the Kunlun mountain range in
the north and the main Great Himalayas to the south, inhabited by people of Indo-Aryan and Tibet and escent. It is one of the
most sparsely populated regions in Jammu and Kashmir and its culture and history are closely related to that of Tibet.
Historically, the region included the Baltistan (Baltiyul)
valleys, the Indus Valley, the remote Zangskar, Lahaul and
Spiti to the south, Aksai Chin and Ngari, including the Rudok region and Guge, in the east, and the Nubra valleys to the north.
Contemporary Ladakh borders Tibet to the east, the Lahaul and
Spiti to the south,
the Vale of Kashmir, Jammu and Baltiyul
regions to the west, and the trans–Kunlun territory of Xinjiang to the far north. Ladakh is renowned for its remote mountain beauty and
culture.
Places
to visit
The
Ariyan Village
The Brogpa are a small community of Dard people residing in the Dha-Hanu
valley about 163 km southwest of Leh in Ladakh. They are thought by some to be
the purest descendants of the ancient Indo-Europeans, known as the Ariyans.
Dha and Hanu are
two villages situated in the Dhahanu valley where they are found. They are also
scattered in other parts of Ladakh. Part of the community are also located in
the Deosai plateau just across the LOC in the Baltistan. Like the people of
Gilgit, they speak an archaic form of the Shina language unintelligible with
other dialects of Shina. They are originally said to have come from Chilas and
settled in the area generations ago. They are predominantly caucasoid in
contrast to the Tibeto-Burman inhabitants of most of Ladakh. They are nominally
Buddhist, however animist and Bön rituals still survive. Minaro is an alternate
ethnic name. 'Brogpa' is the name given by the Ladakhi for the people.
The
traditional Brogpa diet based on locally grown foods such as barley and hardy
wheat prepared most often as tsampa/sattu (roasted flour). It takes in
different ways. Other important foods include potatoes, radishes, turnips, and
Gur-Gur Cha, a brewed tea made of black tea, butter and salt. Dairy and poultry
sources are out of menu because of religious taboos. Brogpa takes three meals a
day; Chin-nan (Breakfast); Beh (Lunch) and Ganzang (Dinner). Brogpa vary with
respect to the amount of meat (mainly mutton) that they eat. Household’s
economic position decides the consumption of meat. It is only during festivals
and rituals all have greater access to mutton. The traditional costume is
ornamental, with lots flowers on their head gears, which makes them look very
colorfully dressed.
Nubra Valley
Nubra is a
tri-armed valley located to the north east of Ladakh valley. Diskit the capital
of Nubra is about 150 km north from Leh town, the capital of Ladakh district,
India. Local scholars say that its original name was Ldumra (the valley of
flowers). The Shyok River meets the Nubra or Siachan River to form a large
valley that separates the Ladakh and Karakoram Ranges. The Shyok river is a
tributary of the Indus river. The average altitude of the valley is about
10,000 ft. i.e. 3048 metres above the sea level. The common way to access this
valley is to travel over the Khardung La pass from Leh town. Non-locals require
an Inner Line Permit (obtainable in DC office, Leh town) to enter Nubra.
Zanskar Valley
Zanskar is a
subdistrict or tehsil of the Kargil district, which lies in the eastern half of
the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. The administrative centre is Padum.
Zanskar, together with the neighbouring region of Ladakh, was briefly a part of
the kingdom of Guge in Western Tibet.
The Zanskar
Range is a mountain range in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir that separates
Zanskar from Ladakh. Geologically, the Zanskar Range is part of the Tethys
Himalaya, an approximately 100-km-wide synclinorium formed by strongly folded
and imbricated, weakly metamorphosed sedimentary series. The average height of
the Zanskar Range is about 6,000 m (19,700 ft). Its eastern part is known as
Rupshu.
It also
separates Kinnaur District from Spiti in Himachal Pradesh. The highest peaks of
Himachal are in Zanskar range.
Pangong Lake
Pangong Tso,
Tibetan for "long, narrow, enchanted lake", also referred to as
Pangong Lake, is an endorheic lake in the Himalayas situated at a height of about
4,350 m (14,270 ft). It is 134 km (83 mi) long and extends from India to Tibet.
Approximately 60% of the length of the lake lies in Tibet. The lake is 5 km
(3.1 mi) wide at its broadest point. All together it covers 604 km2. During
winter the lake freezes completely, despite being saline water. It is not part
of Indus river basin area and geographically a separate land locked river
basin.
The lake is
in the process of being identified under the Ramsar Convention as a wetland of
international importance. This will be the first trans-boundary wetland in
South Asia under the convention.
Tsokar Lake
The Tso Kar
or Tsho kar, known for its size and depth, is a fluctuating salt lake situated
in Rapshu in the southern part of Ladakh in the Indian state of Jammu and
Kashmir.
Tsomoriri Lake
Tsomoriri or
Lake Moriri, is a lake in the Changthang (literally: northern plains) area in
Jammu and Kashmir. The lake is at an altitude of 4,595 m (15,075 ft); it is the
largest of the high altitude lakes in the Trans-Himalayan biogeographic region,
entirely within India. The lake sits between Ladakh, India to the North, Tibet
to the east, and Zanskar in the west.
The lake is
fed by springs and snow-melt from mountains on the Changthang plateau. Water
enters the lake in two major stream systems, one entering the lake from the
north, the other from the southwest. Both stream systems create extensive
marshes where they enter the lake. It formerly had an outlet to the south, but
this has become blocked and the lake has become land locked. As a result, the
water is now becoming saline.
Leh Old Town
Beside Datun Sahib ( Big old Tree) or behind Leh’s Jama
Masjid (Sunni men’s mosque), winding alleys and stairways burrow between and
beneath a series of old mud-brick Ladakhi houses and eroded old chortens
(stupas). The alleys themselves are a large part of the attraction, but some
individual buildings have been particularly well restored, notably the
17th-century Munshi Mansion, once the residence of the Ladakhi royal secretary
and now housing the Lamo Arts Centre.
Hall of Fame
Well-presented
museum mostly commemorates the various high-altitude battles fought with
Pakistan during the 20th century, but there’s also a 3D map illustrating
Ladakh’s relief and two rooms featuring local culture and nature.
Shanti Stupa
Built in 1991 by
Japanese monks to promote world peace, this large, hilltop stupa has brightly
coloured reliefs on its midlevels and is topped by a spired white hemisphere.
The greatest attraction is the stunning view of Leh. Ideally, make the
breathless 15-minute climb when golden afternoon light still illuminates the
city but the steps up from Changspa are already bathed in.
About PRABISH BISHUNGKHE
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