Ladakh Festival 2011, Ladakh - 1st to 15th September 2011

Ladakh is known as the 'land of the Lamas' and the Buddhist of Ladakh prefer to call their religion Lamaism

which is much the same as Mahayana (or Great vehicle) form of Buddhism. Religion pervades the life of Ladakhis and dominates their life-style. The people of Ladakh have a system of dedicating at least one person from each family to priesthood, i.e. to be a Lama. The female monk is called Chomo. The Dalai Lama of Tibet is to them the chief spiritual head.

Ladakhis call themselves 'Bo-pa' i.e. ancient Bhauttas. They speak a Tibetan language which is a dialect of Tibetan. It is written in the Tibetan script. Many words in the Ladakhi language, especially in religious terminology are derived from Sanskrit.

Ladakh festival is a major event organized every year by the J&K Tourism Department, in collaboration with the local communities and the district administrations of Leh and Kargil from the 1st to 15th of September. Its main objective is to revive and promote the richness, depth and pageantry of Ladakh's centuries-old culture, traditions and folk heritage for worldwide appreciation and enjoyment.

The Ladakh Festival is a unique project of the State Department of Tourism to patronize the revival and promotion of Ladakh's age-old traditions and customs, its cultural heritage and the performing arts. For the tourists visiting Ladakh, the festival provides an opportunity to witness and experience the lifestyle and cultural ethos of a people who have lived for centuries on the crossroads of Asia, receiving and harmonising socio-cultural and religious influences from their neighbouring societies.

The inaugural function is a mega celebration held at Leh with a spectacular procession in which various cultural troupes and village contingents participate in full ceremonial costumes, singing songs and performing various types of dances to the tune of the traditional orchestra. At the Polo ground, where the procession terminates, the participants break into a variety of folk and popular dances, presenting the best samples of the region's performing arts.

A major polo tournament called the "Ladakh Festival Cup" is also held as part of the festival in which polo teams from different parts of the region participate. Visitors to Ladakh during this period will have the opportunity of witnessing this ancient sport of the western Himalayas being played in its original, wild style with fewer rules and frenzied crowd involvement.

The Archery Festival, one of the most interesting festival held during Ladakh Festival, attracts lots of tourists from all over the India. It is a type of local programme held in the backwoods of Ladakh. The archery festival is a test of archery skills, where all males are supposed to participate passionately, in trying out their skills of perfect aiming in flip-flop rounds. The women also participate actively in dance rounds. Other programmes of the festival include a bizarre of evening musical concerts, mask dances by lamas of selected monasteries and mock marriage ceremonies complete with all related traditions. In many parts of Kargil, Ladakh festival is organized and enjoyed in various ways. Many dances, different sets of games are organized. Of the major interests and rarity are the Brok Pas cultural programmes which has a social and cultural platform. Similar programmes are also held in Zanskar Valley, where the high point is the traditional sport called "Saka", in which a number of colorfully dressed horses are used in a racing competition. Besides these another interesting programme is a trade programme where one can find caravan loaded with traders.

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