The colourful summer festivals of Ladakh
Ladakh celebrates several festivals over the summer months, either centered around local monasteries or based on the annual patterns of traditional nomadic life in the region. All are as colourful and lively as you expect in India, and are a fascinating glimpse into traditional life if you can time your visit to coincide with one of them! Dates given below are for events in 2010.
The Hemis Tse Chu festival takes place this year on June 21 and 22 at the Hemis Monastery just outside Leh, and it celebrates the local legend of Guru Padmasambhava who brought Tibetan Buddhism to Ladakh. This Guru is said to have fought devils and demons in order to safeguard the village people, and the lamas of the monastery recreate this struggle between good and evil by performing enthusiastic dances, known as chhams, wearing grotesque masks and vividly-coloured robes, and accompanied by music played on horns, drums and cymbals. Over the 2 days of the festival there is also the opportunity for the local people to bring all their handicrafts to market, and these would make excellent mementoes of your trip!
Lamayuru Yuru Kabgyat festival is on June 10 and 11 at the monastery there, and again, the lamas perform devil dances to illustrate episodes in Buddha’s life and the triumph of good over bad.
Phyang Tsedup festival is on July 9 and 10, and the monastery’s thanka, a large and elaborate image of the founder, is always on display to oversee the proceedings.
The Ladakh festival takes place over the first 2 weeks of September, at harvest time, and as well as the usual music and dance there are also processions, concerts and popular displays of traditional Ladakh sports such as polo and archery (most villages have their own polo ground). It’s also the time when the locals take advantage of the gathering of people and party atmosphere to get married, so there are often wedding ceremonies.
Leh festival, 6–8 June, is also known as the Sindhu Darshan, Sindhu being another name for the Indus River that runs through Leh. The carnival brings together people from all over India who often bring an earthenware pot of water from their own river to mingle with that of the Indus, symbolising the harmonious multi-culturalism of India. The people sometimes bathe in the river at this time, offering water to the soul of their ancestors to release them from the clutches of this world, and to cleanse their own soul.
