Ladakh Culture

Many factors have influenced Ladakh's culture, economy, and society – the fact that Ladakh is surrounded on the east by Tibet, on the north by China's Xiniang province, on the northwest by Pakistan, on the west by Kashmir, and on the south by Himachal Pradesh's Lahaul and Spiti valleys, as well as Central Asia – how all of these areas have affected and influenced the society and culture that has built-in Ladakh over the years. The folks of Ladakh, like the land itself, are often distinct from those of the rest of India. The Ladakhis' looks and bodies, as well as the garments they wear, are more akin to those of Tibet and Central Asia than to those of India. Dards, an Indo-Aryan race that lived south of the Indus and around Gilgit, may have been the first inhabitants. However, immigration from Tibet, perhaps a decade earlier, totally perplexed the Dards' tradition and erased their genetic ancestry. The population of eastern and central Ladakh now seems to be predominantly Tibetan. The people's complexion further west, near Kargil, indicates a united area.
The Arghons, a Muslim neighborhood in Leh, is an exception to the trend. It emerged from marriages between local women and Kashmiri or Central Asian merchants. But they are still culturally representative of the rest of the Ladakhis, they have a strong Indo-Aryan accent in their physical appearances.

Ladakh work culture

People's attitudes are influenced by their religious beliefs, particularly among women. Women in the Leh area, both Buddhists and Muslims, not only labor in the house and in the fields, but also undertake commerce and mingle openly with males outside of their own relationships. Females in Kargil and its surrounding districts, on the other hand, have only recently emerged from semi-seclusion and are taking on activities other than conventional ones such as agriculture and housework. The old customs of the territory allow the Ladakhis' innate joie de vivre to flourish. Monastic and other religious festivals, many of which take place in the wintertime, give a reason for social functions. Archery and polo are popular summer activities in the region. These are frequently transformed into open-air celebrations followed by dance and song, in which Chang, a native beer produced from fermented grains, is freely flowing.