Access
to Adventure
- - -› Leh Ladakh Tourism - - -›
Religion & Culture
Religion & Culture
The
traveller from India will look in vain for similarities between the land and
people he has left and those he encounters inLadakh. 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.
Access
to Adventure
- - -› About
Himalayas - - -› People
& Tribes of Himalayas
People & Tribes of Himalayas
The
population, settlement, and economic patterns within the Himalayas have been
greatly influenced by the variations in topography and climate, which impose
harsh living conditions and tend to restrict movement and communication. People
living in remote, isolated valleys have generally preserved their cultural identities.
However, improvements in transportation and communication, particularly satellite
television programs from Europe and the United States, are bringing access from
the outside world to remote valleys. These outside influences are affecting
traditional social and cultural structure.
Nearly 40 million people inhabit the Himalayas. Generally, Hindus of Indian
heritage are dominant in the Sub-Himalayas and the Middle Himalayan valleys
from eastern Kashmir to Nepal. To the north Tibetan Buddhists inhabit the Great
Himalayas from Ladakh to northeast India.
In central Nepal, in an area between about 1830 and 2440 m (between about 6000
and 8000 ft), the Indian and Tibetan cultures have intermingled, producing a
combination of Indian and Tibetan traits. The eastern Himalayas in India and
nearby areas of eastern Bhutan are inhabited by animistic people whose culture
is similar to those living in northern Myanmar and Yunnan province in China.
People of western Kashmir are Muslims and have a culture similar to the inhabitants
of Afghanistan and Iran.
The economy of the Himalayas as a whole is poor with low per capita income.
Much of the Himalayas area is characterized by a very low economic growth rate
combined with a high rate of population growth, which contributes to stagnation
in the already low level of per capita gross national product. Most of the population
is dependent on agriculture, primarily subsistence agriculture; modern industries
are lacking.
Mineral resources are limited. The Himalayas has major hydroelectric potential,
but the development of hydroelectric resources requires outside capital investment.
The skilled labor needed to organize and manage development of natural resources
is also limited due to low literacy rates. Most of the Himalayan communities
face malnutrition, a shortage of safe drinking water, and poor health services
and education systems.
Agricultural land is concentrated in the Tarai plain and in the valleys of the
Middle Himalayas. Patches of agricultural land have also been carved out in
the mountainous forested areas. Rice is the principal crop in eastern Tarai
and the well-watered valleys. Corn is also an important rain-fed crop on the
hillsides.
Other cereal crops are wheat, millet, barley, and buckwheat. Sugarcane, tea,
oilseeds, and potatoes are other major crops. Food production in the Himalayas
has not kept up with the population growth.
The
major industries include processing food grains, making vegetable oil, refining
sugar, and brewing beer. Fruit processing is also important. A wide variety
of fruits are grown in each of the major zones of the Himalayas, and making
fruit juices is a major industry in Nepal, Bhutan, and in the Indian Himalayas.
Since 1950 tourism has emerged as a major growth industry in the Himalayas.
Nearly 1 million visitors come to the Himalayas each year for mountain trekking,
wildlife viewing, and pilgrimages to major Hindu and Buddhist sacred places.
The number of foreign visitors has increased in recent years, as organized treks
to the icy summits of the Great Himalayas have become popular. While tourism
is important to the local economy, it has had an adverse impact on regions where
tourist numbers exceed the capacity of recreational areas.
Historically, all transport in the Himalayas has been by porters and pack animals.
Porters and pack animals are still important, but the construction of major
roads and the development of air routes have changed the traditional transportation
pattern.
Major urban centers such as Kathmandu, Simla, and Srinagar, as well as important
tourist destinations, are served by airlines. Railways link Simla and Darjiling,
but in most of the Himalayas there are no railroads. The bulk of goods from
the Himalayas, as well as goods destined for places within the Himalayas, generally
come to Indian railheads, located in the Tarai, by road. The pack animals and
porters transport goods from road heads to the interior and back.
Copyright©,
Access
to Adventure. All Rights Reserved
Golden Triangle