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| One of the last enclaves of Tibet Buddhism |
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Ladakh 'the land of high passes' from the Tibetan 'La-Tags', belongs to the trans-himalayan region, a vast and articulated mountainous territory south of the Karakorum and between the Great Himalayan Range and the Tibetan plateau.
The Tibetans are dominant, but over the years have merged with other groups to form a homogeneous Ladakhi entity. Two ethnically and culturally distinctive groups are the Tibetans proper living at Choglamsar and the nomadic Changpas with their herds of pashm bearing goats in the eastern plains.
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Ladakh
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The region of Leh is crossed by the sinuous Indus Valley, between the Stok Range to and the peaks of the Ladakh Range to the north. The valley is characterized by a high concentration of gompas (Buddhists monasteries), surrounded by tens of white chorten, and by the cultivated fields encircled with poplars at the bottom of the valley: green oasis that contrast against the aridity of the surrounding mountain chains.
Indus valley - Ladakh |
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In the region of the Rupshu, the oriental part of the country, in a completely desert territory, we find the sparkling blue waters of different tso (lakes), like the Pangong Tso, close to the border with Tibet, the Tso Moriri and to the Tso Kar.
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Ladakh
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Traditional architecture in Ladakh
The characteristic elements of the architecture of Ladakh can be recognised in all the constructions of a certain value like the monasteries or gompas, the ancient rich houses and the palaces built for the kings and noblemen. These are massive construction like the fortress-palaces (khar) or the fortress-monasteries (dzong), usually built on the steep slopes of mountain peaks.
Unfortunately nowadays traditional buildings are rare and the few that still survive are now decaying, altough some examples of a certain value can still be admired today; a part from the obvious monasteries of the valley of the Indo, we have: the Palace of Leh, with his imposing basement looking like more to a castle, the Palace of Shey, the former royal palace, the Stok palace, the only one still inhabited, and some houses that can be found here and there especially in the agricultural areas.
These buildings are built with simple materials like wood, straw and mud mixed to straw. The form is rectangular and symmetrical; the white washed walls lean inward adding a sense of massiveness. The ornamental details that characterize them are always the same: the edge of the roof delimited by a leaning moulding made of bunches of juniper branches painted in deep red, the characteristic windows and balconies (rabsals), surmounted by a leaning canopy and, on the corners of the house roof, the kenchiras ornamental elements of good auspice, with the omnipresent flags of prayer.
Ladakh |
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