history of Ladakh

Posted on December 17, 2023December 17, 2023 by rewasum

Nas, the root of my food associated existence.

Written by Rinchen Angmo

Nas, the food associated root of my existence. The Ladakhi word for barley is nas. For centuries, the people of Ladakh, Tibet, Spiti, Lahaul and various places across the Trans-Himalayas have cultivated barley. In most parts of the aforementioned places, a barley based dish called kholak/tsampa has from time immemorial been a staple diet.

Though I don’t eat kholak as often as I would like to, the dish inevitably becomes a symbol of the root of my food associated existence. I say food associated specifically, because there are various other ways of quantifying roots of existence in different tangible and philosophical spheres.

Posted on August 16, 2023September 4, 2023 by rewasum

A book review of ‘Tibetan Caravans’ by Abdul Wahid Radhu.

Written by Rinchen Angmo.

‘Tibetan Caravans’ is a book by Abdul Wahid Radhu le from Ladakh. Reading Wahid le’s book made me realize the importance of recording one’s life accounts for future generations. Since ‘History’ is often manipulated by various powers, individual stories become increasingly important. After all, it is through these individual stories that one gets a glimpse into a world that would otherwise have been forgotten, fabricated or made foreign.

Wahid le’s book assumes great significance in terms of documenting the waning days of trans-Himalayan trade as well as eye-witness accounts of the systemic attempt of the destruction of Tibetan culture and Tibetan Buddhism by the Communist Party of China in its early days of occupation. Moreover, it provides a glimpse of life in the trans-Himalayas before ‘modernization’ reached its doors.

Posted on September 25, 2022March 20, 2023 by rewasum

The History of Bodyig (Tibetan script) and its current state in different regions.

Written by Rinchen Angmo.

The Bodyig script was created owing to the vision and foresight of one of the greatest Tibetan Kings, Chogyal Songsten Gampo, the 7^th century ruler of Tibet. The King realized that the advancing kingdom of Tibet would soon require its own script. Chogyal Songsten Gampo sent his intelligent minister Thonmi Sambhota to India with fifteen other young Tibetans so that they could learn Indian languages whereby they could develop a script for Tibet. On Thonmi Sambhota’s return from India, the Tibetan script was finalized.

Bodyig also known in some regions as Bodhik or Bhoti, is the script that became indigenous to Tibet, Ladakh, Lahaul (sTod valley), Spiti, Bhutan (Dzongkha), Baltistan, Sikkim (for Bhutias) and other regions. However, the usage of the script is slowly waning in many regions.

Posted on September 5, 2022September 12, 2022 by rewasum

Shey Shrubh Lha.

-Written by Rinchen.

My Abile(granny) said that today is Shey Shrubhlha: the day on which Shey’s protector deity Dorje Chenmo enters a human being in order to give advice to the village of Shey. The day of Shrubh lha also marks the beginning of harvest. I’m not exactly sure how this spans out these days and all that I know about how it spanned out back in my granny’s youth is stemming from bits of memories that my granny still holds. For those who don’t know, Shey, now a village, was once the summer capital of the Kingdom of Ladakh.

My granny said two of the things she remembers from this occasion is that on this day Dorje Chenmo using a human being as a medium visits the Shey Lonpo House ( one of the foremost erstwhile ministerial families in Ladakh during the King’s reign) and a traditional dance is held on the lawn before the Lha-khang (abode of the lha (deity), in this case Dorje Chenmo). Ofcourse, other important events also take place on this occasion, but these are the two which my grandmother recalls from personal experience.

Posted on August 26, 2022 by rewasum

A beautifully surreal month.

Written by Rinchen.

I would like to begin by thanking His Holiness The Dalai Lama for blessing and bringing so much joy to all the people of Ladakh. Chhaksal.

Each day of His Holiness’s presence in Ladakh has been filled with beauty and wonder for each and every Ladakhi in so many different ways. His Holiness’s interfaith visits, secular teachings, religious teachings, visits to Zanskar and Lingshed, and the various functions that were hosted in his honour, brought blessings upon and joy to a countless number of beings who had the sode and sonam (luck and merit) to be in His Holiness’s presence. We Ladakhis are truly honoured to have had His Holiness visit Ladakh as his first destination since the pandemic broke out.

We will miss all the beautiful moments that His Holiness’s visit brought and now look forward to His Holiness’s visit next year.

Posted on July 3, 2022July 3, 2022 by rewasum

Bus of Life.

-Written by Rinchen.

Hustle- the name that the 21st century gives to life.

Yet, somehow in some corners of Ladakh, people are willing to give and not just get.

Posted on June 13, 2022June 13, 2022 by rewasum

#BOG – bring on the bog.

-written by Rinchen.

Glistening heads and backs walking through lush green fields set against brown and blue mountains.

Perhaps the aforementioned line is rather romanticized, yet it cannot be denied that Alchi women donning their entire traditional attire adds a sort of enigma to Alchi’s blessed land.

Alchi is a hamlet in the Sham region of Ladakh. Blessed by the Alchi Choskor, ( which is the oldest surviving monastery in Ladakh) the hamlet is mesmerising to say the least.

Posted on April 24, 2022April 24, 2022 by rewasum

Wandering Watze.

A red fox on a full moon’s night.

Written by Rinchen.

My dog’s more aggressive-than-usual- bark got me to peek out of the window. A pointed snout, bushy tail and thin body.. behold the Himalayan Red Fox (known as watze in Ladakh) glimmering under the full moon’s radiance. From its body language, I inferred that it was a frequent visitor. As at any other occasion, I wondered what it meant..symbolically that is.

Posted on April 17, 2022July 3, 2022 by rewasum

Young and weathering years.

-Rinchen.

Considering Ladakh’s small population, one hears of suicide all too often; specially amidst the youth. Yet, it’s never talked about. These days, there is no solid support structure for the youth. The ‘elders’ who should be guiding the youth are either themselves misguided or are too busy.

In my opinion, one’s solid as well as individually understood source of support, in this day and age, understanding one’s mind. One way to that is through spirituality.

I’m not certain about other places, but surely Ladakh’s Buddhist youth is slowly getting disconnected from its religion: Tibetan-Buddhism. Factors are aplenty: apathy; ‘too cool for spirituality’; ‘too “rational” for spirituality; not been properly introduced to the tenets of the religion; too busy; lack of guidance. The youth today fails to understand that notions of success and coolness cannot take one far; without a firm understanding of the mind we are essentially just drifting through life. On the other side of the coin, the elderly are either unable to effectively share their knowledge, are ‘too cool’ themselves or are ignorant.

Posted on December 28, 2021December 28, 2021 by rewasum

Angchok 1

a reverie?

-Rinchen

To my Abile (granny) the 2 day long Chemrey Angchok Chham (religious masked monastic performance event) was more about tending to guests in her bustling house. She recounts how our ancestral house would be full of guests, mostly relatives from outside Chemrey (our village). Chhang (Ladakhi beer) and traditonal barley and meat assortments would flow in plenty and Abile would be busy organizing rooms and food with the aid of helpers.

Posted on November 16, 2021November 16, 2021 by rewasum

A tale of two tilens, two scripts.

-Rinchen.

“So Abile (granny), do you know how to read both Bodhik and Urdu?”, I asked in awe.

Abile’s answer was in the affirmative. She was telling me about her Urdu teacher when I asked her whether he was a Muslim. She said yes and that Sir Rehman le also taught Bodhik brilliantly.

Posted on February 9, 2021 by rewasum

Dosmochey and an end to self-centredness?

-Rinchen Angmo

While the pandemic has prevented the celebration of Dosmochey as usual, prayers were conducted at Gompa Soma. If I am not mistaken, within the Gompa Soma building even Chham (monastic dance) took place today. However, I didn’t want to spoil the sanctity of the inner prayer hall of the Chhokhang by taking a video. There were different kinds of visitors today. Youngsters stepping in for one kora, an elderly lady whose devotion was unhindered by her hunchback, beggars from Rajasthan in colourful dupattas and those rushing to provide tea to the monks. Sitting there, you could almost forget who the ‘I’ is anyway, which is kind of what Buddhism encourages.

Posted on July 14, 2020May 11, 2023 by rewasum

Tracing Ladakh’s History through its Dynasty.

With reference to ‘The History of Maryul Ladakh’ by Tashi Rabgias (Meme le).