Relegion Culture In Ladakh

People of Ladakh
The 200,000 large and strong population of Ladakh results in to a blending of many different races, in particular the Tibetans and the Dards.

The looks and the way of living life of both the Ladakhis of central Ladakh and, perhaps even more so, the Zanskaris, reflect a strong influence from central Tibet. Moving to the west ,you can see that this influence diminishes and is replaced by that of the Dards. The one exception to this is the Baltis who live around Kargil and the Suru Valley. They have Tibetan origins, speak a language that has Tibetan links and were once Buddhists, though today they are devout Shiite Muslims.

Festivals of Ladakh
The religious philosophy of Buddhism, however, profound and subtle doesn't preclude an immense joie-de-vivre among its Ladakhi adhe-rents,and even solemn religious enactments are made the occasion for joyous celebration.

There are so many interesting and colorful festivals that are held in Ladakh, mostly at Monasteries. Every summer in July, a large festival is held at the Ladakhi home of the 14th Dalai Lama in celebration of his birthday. He sometimes attends this celebration. The Hemis Tse Chu Festival is another one of the famous festival that draws large crowds.

Religion of Ladakh
Ladakh is one of the place where you can see the branch of Mahayana Buddhism,which sometimes also called Lamaism,As being practised it would have been in Tibet before the brutal Chinese suppression. Buddhism has penneated Ladakhi and Tibetan culture since the 7th century AD.

Education in Ladakh
The long-term result is a little more promising. In 1993 the Students' Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL) launched 'Operation New Hope', which you can say a campaign to provide 'culturally appropriate and locally relevant education' by a number of means which include producing Ladakhi textbooks, adopting one language for the teaching of maths and science at all ages, and the regular training of teachers. A government degree college has been opened in Leh, thus providing further education students with the option of staying in Ladakh, rather than having to move to any other place to study.

Religion of Ladakh
Tibetan Buddhism
Ladakh is one of the place where you can see this branch of Mahayana Buddhism, sometimes also called Lamaism, being practised as it would have been in Tibet before the brutal Chinese suppression. Buddhism has penneated Ladakhi and Tibetan culture since the 7th century AD.

Tibetan Buddhism is a mystical religion which absorbed many of the magical and superstitious features of Tibet's previous shamanistic Bon religion, along with the elements of Hindu Tantrism. With an array of deities, beliefs, rituals and symbols it's incredibly complex, but to most Ladakhis, who don't concern themselves too much with these difficulties, it becomes a practical and down-to-earth philosophy which emphasise one thing i.e compassion. Lamas It is usual for most families to have at least one son who is a lama (monk). At an early age he will be sent to the gompa (monastery) to which his village is attached where he will be educated in the religious teachings. Monks are highly respected in the community and spend a lot of their time away from the gompa performing religious ceremonies in the villages. The heads of gompas are called kushoks and are reincarnations of previous venerated lamas. The head of Tibetan Buddhism and traditional political ruler of Tibet is the Dalai Lama, an incarnation of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. The current Dalai Lama is the 14th in a succession that originated in the 14th century and lives in exile in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh.

The lamas of Tibetan Buddhism are divided into four main sects. The oldest is the Nyingmapa (the Ancient Order or Red Hat sect) and was founded by the great sage Padmasarnbhava in the 8th century. Next carne the Sakyapa sect, followed by the last of the Red Hat schools, the Kagyupa. The most recent order is the Gelukpa, more commonly known as the Yellow Hat sect, who came from a reform movement in the 1400s and which is led by the Dalai Lama. All these sects are represented in Ladakh, but the most common among them are the Kagyupa and Gelukpa.

Islam
Although Ladakh is usually described as a Buddhist region,so there is a large minority of Muslims (about 45%). Constant invasion by Islamic forces in the west of Ladakh gradually led to the conversion of the previously Buddhist people. Most Ladakhi Muslims still live in Kargil District where they account for 85% of the population. Here they are puritanical Shiites. Leh also supports a small population of Muslims, mainly Sunnis, who are descended from immigrant Kashmiri and central Asian traders.

Christianity
There is a small community of Christians in Leh.Among them most of them belong to the top rungs of Ladakhi society and were converted by Moravian missionaries who first came to Ladakh in 1885. They built two churches, one in Leh and one in Shey.