Thus summer temperatures
rarely exceed about 27°C in the shade, while in
winter they may plummet to minus 20°C even in Leh.
Surprisingly, though, the thin air makes the heat of
the sun even more intense than at lower altitudes; it
is said that only in Ladakh can a man sitting in the
sun with his feet in the shade suffer from sunstroke
and frostbite at the same time!
LANGUAGE LADAKH -
The
native language spoken in Ladakh is Ladhaki, derived
from Tibetan. The beautiful Tibetan script is used for
religious texts in the monasteries, but in secular life
Hindi or European writing is used.The only Ladakhi word
we managed to learn was "Juley" (pronounced
"Joolay"). It is a useful, general-purpose
word meaning hello, goodbye, thank you, ok, etc. English
is also spoken, less widely outside Leh.
LADAKH RELIGION -
Unlike
most of the rest of India, the predominant religion
in Ladakh is Tibetan (Mahayana) Buddhism. This is a
form of Buddhism that has also incorporated elements
into its mythology of Tantric mysticism and even Bon-Cho
(the pantheistic shamanist religion extant in Ladakh
prior to the introduction of Buddhism). Buddhism was
first introduced to Ladakh nearly one thousand years
ago at about the same time that Ladakh became an independent
kingdom. During the tenth and eleventh centuries the
Buddhist scholar and missionary Rinchen Zangpo, "The
Great Translator", founded over a hundred monasteries
in Ladakh, some of which are still in existence. Later,
in the fourteenth century, when the Tibetan monk Tsong
Khapa introduced the Gelupka order of the Dalai Lama
to Ladakh, the Tibetan style of Buddhism became the
major religion as it was supported by the Ladakhi Royal
Family, and remains so today.
LADAKH CULTURE -
Although
Leh was a major bazaar and stopping point on the famed
Silk Road, Ladakh is a predominantly agricultural society.
Ladakh is also called "Little Tibet", because
culturally it has more in common with Tibet than the
rest of India. Religion occupies a central part of life,
much more so than in the West. Prayer wheels and Chortens
(the local word for a stupa, the Buddhist devotional
towers) are dotted everywhere. Many villages have a
monastery nearby, usually built high up on a rocky outcrop
or hill, and many members of society become Buddhist
monks. People enjoy attending the religious festivals,
and we saw many locals at events like the Leh Festival,
even though this is a new festival introduced mainly
to slightly extend the tourist season past its traditional
beginning of September close.
Each
Ladakhi family typically owns about 2-4 acres of land
which is irrigated by snow meltwater through a complex
network of irrigation ditches. Leh only receives 60
mm of rain per year, and the non-irrigated areas are
completely arid. The farming all occurs in the four
month-long hot summer, allowing a single barley crop
to be grown which is used for bread, tsampa (roasted
barley flour used to make dumplings and so on), animal
fodder and chang (rough Tibetan beer; tastes rather
like a weak scrumpy). The other eight months of the
year are very cold, and the Manali-Leh Highway officially
closes on 15th September. (Camps like Sarchu close at
this time). Although this is rapidly changing due to
the influence of tourism and soldiers stationed in Ladakh,
traditionally the Ladakhis had a largely money-free
economy, being completely self-sufficient from their
agriculture. To maintain this state of affairs, land
would not be divided up amongst children, with a second
son typically becoming a Buddhist monk rather than a
farmer, and even polyandry being practised to avoid
having to split up a farm into pieces too small to support
the extended family.
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