In the land of lamas, legends as olds its hills and lifestyles defined by traditions long-forgotten elsewhere: Ladakh Festival captures all the pristine, stark, spiritual and natural beauty of a land of many splendors!!

The Buddha's spiritual teachings permeate the very core of Ladakh and even with a certain restraint to the profound matters of birth, death and everything in between and beyond; there is always time for pageantry. Even at the most solemn religious occasion in this land of legends and snow-clad mountains, the Ladakh festival has earned for itself a reputation for color, gaiety, spectacular exhibition of masks and mimes with enjoyable activities for all attending. The Ladakh festival also has earned itself many global tourists keen to savor the enriching insight into the land's many natural, traditional and socio-cultural flavors while hoping to take back with them more than just a glimpse of the local community, surviving modernisms and political mechanisms with an easy, hillbilly élan.

Ladakh Festival: in the land of legends and snow-clad mountains, celebrations are timed with monastic rituals and solstices.

Coordinating with the most laid-back period in the lives of their people, the Jammu-Kashmir tourism department usually pitches the many annual festivals of the gompas in Ladakh, which are celebrated in the winter months. Filled with merry-making, these occasions call for myriad hues and tints in clothing, masked portrayal of good and evil protagonists in various dance-dramas conducted in the gompa courtyards that have Lamas performing. The masks used in these mimes are brightly colored and sometimes frightening, but always fascinating since they are often appealing to tourists as souvenirs. The dance dramas presented during the Ladakh festival reflect different religious aspects like the triumph of good over evil or how the individual soul progresses through life when faced by tempting or challenging situations.

The Ladakh Festival: timing your tour itinerary for getting in the thick of things in the land of legends and spiritual release is easy. The J&K Tourism Department works in collaboration with the local communities and the district administrations of Leh and Kargil to bring you a deep, abiding and insightful glimpse into local culture and tradition from 1st to 15th September, every year.

Monastic Ladakh festivals: usually feature the most number of participants and spectators due to their spiritual nature and the religious merit they afford as well as the immense scope for social interaction. These usually commemorate the founding of a particular monastery or birth anniversary of a patron saint and other such instances with a sacred touch. Hemis Festival is one of the monastic Ladakh festivals and associated with Hemis, among the largest, most prosperous of Leh's monasteries that is home to about 150 monks. The Hemis festival falls in late June or the first half of July, is dedicated to Padmasambhava and the major highlight occurs every 12 years when the gompa's huge thangka - a religious icon painted or embroidered on cloth - is exhibited for all to admire and revere. If you want to be there to experience the thrill and wonder of the Hemis Ladakh Festival, plan a trip for the next unveiling due in 2016 (2004 being the previous one). Other Ladakh festivals associated with its numerous monasteries include summer festivals like Lamayuru (early July), Phiyang (late July-early August), Tak-thok (around ten days after Phiyang) and Karsha in Zanskar (11 days after Phiyang). The Phiyang festival also involves the exhibition of gigantic thangka, done every year, which is a good cultural sightseeing option for tourists not wishing to wait another 9 years for the Hemis festival's thangka display.

Mock marriages mark the eve of Ladakh festival: reviving the rich past of Ladakhi culture and educating the current generation about Ladakhi heritage with Polo-matches, archery contests and musical concerts to enthrall one and all.

Many local troupes and village contingents participate in true Ladakhi ceremonial costumes, performing to folk-tunes and presenting dance-ballets in sync with the traditional orchestra. Inter-village archery contests are a vital part of the Ladakh festival with every tradition-bound villager proud to participate towards keeping the social code; Ladakhi women display their grace with languorous to frisky movements of folk dances of as many rounds as there are to the archery contests while other masked ballads, musical galas and mock marriage ceremonies add to the rest of the regalia of the Ladakh Festival. The Ladakh Festival Cup is a grand polo tournament and a fundamental part of the festival, requiring teams from various regions (Dards of Dras lay ancestral claim to the sport) to participate in a wild and old-fashioned West Himalayan twist to the traditional, stylish Polo matches played elsewhere in the world.

Another interesting facet to the Ladakh festival is the production of a classic Central Asian trade mart set-up in Leh Bazaar, distinctively traditional in details right from caravans laden with typical traders' goods to expert artists dressed in period-costumes enacting retail scenes of customary trading, bartering and good-natured haggling. Zanskar Valley, taking a cue from the essential elements of the Ladakh festival, too holds fort with an equally delightful and dramatic event: the traditional sport of Saka, involving a number of colorfully attired horses used in a old-world racing competition, is its claim to uniqueness.

If you love to seek the soul of a city, look at its people; local customs and lifestyles are often the truest measure of a rich and varied culture. The Ladakh festival is no different: combining all essential ingredients in its celebrations to showcase the wealth, profundity and inherent spirituality in customs and folklores with a universal appeal, cherished by natives and foreigners alike, Ladakh beckons all with a zest for living and learning.