Leh Ladakh Religion &
Culture
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.
