Ladakh

Ladakh is a major tourist destination of unparalleled beauty and mystique nestled in the western Great Himalayas to the north of India. The name Ladakh translates to "land of high passes". It is a land of variegated landscapes, from white deserts to blue lakes, ice-capped mountains to lush green valleys, Ladakh, is a wildly beautiful milieu set between the Kunlun Mountains and the Himalayas. With a vibrant culture, unique flora and fauna, tremendous history and pristine landscape, Ladakh remains to this day an adventurer's paradise.

Villages are settled at altitudes between 9000 ft. to 25,170 ft. extending from the Karakoram mountain range to the Great Himalayas. Being in a complete rain shadow region, cut off from the monsoon clouds by the Great Himalayas and a host of subsidiary ranges, it is a cold high altitude desert where the wind, water from the minimal winter snows, and chemical reactions within the rocks themselves, have carved a fantastic somewhat rugged landscape.

One of the newest & largest UT of India, it is sparsely populated with 3 persons per sq.km. Buddhists incorporate 39.65% of the ethnic population & Muslims 46.41% while Hindu population is 12.11%. The region's population is split roughly in half between the districts of Leh and Kargil. With a total population of 140,802 in Kargil, 76.87% comprise Muslims (mostly Shia), whereas Leh’s total population of 133,487 comprises 66.40% Buddhist.

Ladakh a major trade hub feeding into the main Silk Route that extended from the far reaches of Iran (Persia) to China. It was the focus of trade and culture and became an essential sojourn for traders on their journeys from the lower plains towards Kashgar. Earliest inhabitants consisted of a mixed Indo-Aryan population of Mons and Dards, who emigrated from areas to the south of the Himalayas a millennium ago. Around the 1st century, Ladakh was part of the Kushana Empire. Buddhism spread into western Ladakh from Kashmir in the 2nd century when much of eastern Ladakh and western Tibet was still practicing the Bon religion. Annexed by both China and Tibet subsequently over the centuries, Ladakh was subject to several battles in a quest for power by various kingdoms.  With the advent of the British Raj, Ladakh was included in the Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir under the Dogra rulers. Thereafter, its separation from the state of J&K in the following years, Ladakh was officialy granted the Union Territory status on the 31st of October,  2019 by the Parliament of India after a Reorganization Act was passed.

The centuries-old culture of this picturesque region finds expression in its monuments, monasteries, oral literature, art forms, fairs and festivals. Their culture is rich and colorful, centering around the beliefs and practices of Tibetan Mahayana Buddhism, the predominant religion. An authentic land, it is faithful to ancestral customs where life is characterized by intense spirituality.

Predominant spoken language is Ladakhi written in the Bhoti script, with many regional dialects. Within Ladakh, there is a range of dialects, so that the language of the Chang-pa people may differ markedly from that of the Purig-pa in Kargil, or the Zangskaris, but they are all mutually comprehensible. Due to its position on important trade routes, especially the Silk Route, the language of Leh is enriched with foreign words. Other languages spoken include Balti, Urdu, Purgi, Tibetan, Hindi, and English.