Indian Festivals: Ladakh Festival

With the Himalayan wonder, Ladakh, becoming more accessible to visitors from across the country, it is a great opportunity to get an intimate view of the unique festivals of the region.

One of the most exciting cultural extravaganzas, the Ladakh Festival, is celebrated between every 1st to 15th September. Great weather and fewer tourists make this a great time to enjoy the region’s heritage, depicted in dances, music and local food.

About the Festival

The Ladakh festival was the brainchild of the state tourism ministry and local communities to bring forth the rich cultural heritage of the region for everyone to enjoy. Leh, Kargil and the farway Zanskar valley participate in this festival.

Lamas-dancing-during-Festival

The festival starts with parades of local dance and music troupes which slowly go past the main Leh market to finally end in the Polo Ground. The most important part of the Ladakh Festival is the polo match. The winners are conferred with the Ladakh Festival Cup. This was introduced to take forward the lineage of this traditional sport of the Western Himalayas. Some of the other events include archery, singing contests and dance competitions.

Ladakh-Festival-Cup-Polo

The most exhilarating performance is that of the Lamas, who dance to haunting tunes in traditional colourful masks. These monks are chosen from a handful of monasteries and their performance is one of the highlights of the festival.

Childern-Dancing-Ladakh-Festival

Local food stalls line up at the venues so dig into some Tibetan food like Thukpa and Tsampa. Skyu is also something worth a try. This is a pasta dish with vegetables. Apart from the local food, you can also find local versions of other cuisines.

The festival marks the end of the pleasant weather as soon after the festival, the weather gets chilly and the in a month’s time, the high passes close due to snow. The Ladakh Festival leaves visitors and locals with colourful memories before the cold takes over the region.

Parade-during-festival

How and When to get there

Leh, the capital city where the festival is held, is accessible by both road (via Manali or Srinagar) and air. The road trip itself is magnificent, but if you are planning on arriving on the opening day, you should keep 2 days for road travel. You can also fly in from Delhi, but arrive at least a day or two early to acclimatise to the altitude. With much walking, participation and following the parades, it can get very exhausting.

Tips for Visitors

• Get local help beforehand to get seats in the Polo Ground if you want to watch the entire procession. Alternatively, a great vantage point from atop a building also makes a good viewing point.
• With prior permission from the Tourism office, you can also get close access to the parade to get brilliant photo-opportunities.
• If you can arrange to meet some of the troupes before or after the parade, more up-close pictures can be obtained.
• This is also a good time for shopping for handicrafts as locals bring out their best wares and the variety is incredible. Although be prepared to bargain as visitors can be over charged a little. Local help will come in handy to get a decent bargain. Silver jewellery, mementos, prayer flags and more elaborate souvenirs like shawls and rugs are in plenty.

Tourism Ladakh : Hemis National Park

The stunningly beautiful Hemis National Park is located in the Eastern part of Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir. It is the only national park in India north of the Himalayas and lies at an altitude of up to 6,930m above sea level, covering an area of 600 sq kms.

Hemis-national-park-Ladakh

History

The park was founded in 1981 and is currently the largest national park in South Asia. Hemis was a destination and stopping point on the silk routes of Tibet and the park includes the famous 400-year old Hemis Gompa Monastery, for which it was named, within it’s boundaries.

Hemis_Gompa_India

Flora and Fauna

The park has been dubbed the “Snow Leopard Capital of India” and wide variety of flora and fauna can be seen here. The park is receives little rain fall and contains many dry forests, alpine grasslands and scrub lands. Wildlife lovers are drawn to this remote location are the park’s many endangered animals. Some of its inhabitants include the snow leopard, ibex, serow, Tibetan antelope and red fox. There have been 16 mammal species and 73 bird species recorded in the park so far.

Yak-hemis-national-park-wildlife

Natural Beauty

Views overlooking the Indus River and the surrounding area make Hemis National Park photographer’s delight. The park offers a number of routes for trekking from mid-June to mid-October.

Indus-River

When to Visit

Visitors should plan their trip from May to October. During winters the temperature goes well below zero and heavy snowfall is seen.

Ladakh tourism:The Hemis Festival in Leh

Hemis Monastery is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Ladakh (in the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir). Located 45 km from Leh, the 300 year old monastery is home to the famous Hemis festival which falls in June or July every year.

Hemis-festival-Leh

History of the festival

The Hemis Festival is celebrated to commemorate the birth anniversary of Guru Padmasambhava who founded Tantric Buddhism in Tibet. Also known as Second Buddha, the festival is of huge importance to those celebrating.

Hemis is celebrated on the 10th day of the Tibetan lunar month in the Hemis Monastery, the largest Buddhist monastery in Ladakh.

Hemis-festival

The ceremonies begin with an early morning ritual atop the Gompa where, to the beat of drums and the resounding clash of cymbals and wail of pipes, the portrait of the sacred Guru Rinpoche (another name for the Guru) is brought forward so that all devotees can take blessings.

The most esoteric of festivities are the mystic mask dances. The Mask Dances of Ladakh are referred collectively as chams Performance.

Hemis-festival-mask

At the Festival

A bevy of locals and tourists alike are seen making a beeline in local buses and cabs to the cosy monastery, clearly not equipped to handle the massive surge of humanity. Many travellers also camp outside the night before to get early entry and row side seats to the wonderful traditional dances.

Masks and monks-Hemis-Festival

Masked lamas perform elaborate dances, special music performances and commentaries in front of a large but intimate crowd. The half day ceremony is watched in awe by thousands. As a spectator try and get a seat as close to the main courtyard. These fill fast, so arrive at the festival as early as 7 in the morning. Tickets are available for Rs 500/- to sit very close to the performance. It is a great experience to sit and watch this marvellous show with the locals. They too, come dressed in their traditional cummerbunds and head gear for this annual ceremony.

Hemis-masks-festival

Outside the monastery, the ambience is nothing short of a fair. Local food, artefacts and knick-knacks are on display. This is a good occasion to pick up local handicrafts as all merchants come and display their wares at the festival.