Ladakh dance forms – a peep window to Ladakhi culture

Ladakh dance forms – a peep window to Ladakhi culture

While on a trip to Ladakh , had the occasion to witness a cultural show that encompassed the Ladakhi traditions and culture into a dance and song form interwoven with a  short narrative . Just like a Bharat Natyam performance the musicians were seated on the floor on the right side of the stage. Flutes, drums, pipes and guitar- like string instruments called Damian – a troupe of four was managing between themselves a host of other small instruments to give life to the dances.

It was a short programme of about 7 performances, very carefully culled, to display the Ladakhi culture of various races and tribes. While largely a Buddhist community having influence of the Nepali, Kashmiri Tibetan cultures, the teachings of Dalai Lama, the monasteries called Gompas, the Muslims also form a large part of their culture. This influence reflects in their dressing – much like the Kashmiris – long robes, salwars but instead of the dupatta , ladies wear a sashay around the robes and dawn yak skin coats quilted with silk , to fair the extreme cold. All the men and women wore yak skin boots throughout the dances.

The show started with Lharna – a welcome music – a melody of drums and pipes to invite everyone to the show. Sweet enchanting tunes that set rhythm to the show.   Julley ! A Ladakhi word for greetings used both at the time of meeting as well as to bid good bye surely broke the ice and we all joined to respond – Julley! Suddenly we realised that we are a homogenous group of people as the distance between the performers and audience was bridged by a simple single word – Julley! The rugged mountains, the snowy chill – Ladakh they say is the next best destination to experience the Moon terrain and yet Julley  did all the magic!

It was an open air theatre and the musicians were seated under apricot trees laden with sweet fruit. The small Ladakhi children were plucking the fruit and relishing it. Their joyful Mongolian faces with pinched eyes and chubby cheeks coupled with tumultuous laughter added a whiff of carefree atmosphere to the evening.

The Chabskyan dance followed the Lharna. It is performed by men carrying brass jugs on their heads containing the chang - a local brew made from barley. The striking feature of every dance is the elaborate costume or regalia that are distinct for each dance based on the region from where the dance originated. In this dance the men sang and emoted to served the chang . We were told that some dancers of the yore could pour the chang into cups while holding the jugs atop their heads through deft movements of their body. The words were Ladakhi and tunes mountainous but that did not matter as the grace, the happiness of the dance filled the air.

The next dance was the Shondol performed by women. Traditionally this dance was performed by Takshoma – the royal court dancers. Naturally the regalia is very elaborate with brightly coloured stone studded turquoise head gears, deep brown robes held together by bright orange sashays and matched with orange salwars. They had beads, stones, shells and silver ornaments all over. Unlike Bhangra , the Ladakhi dances are soft and slow. As the song progresses the speed does pick up a bit but not as vibrant as the Bhangra of Punjab or Lavni of Maharashtra. Graceful flowing movements is the mainstay of all these dances.

Again it was the turn of the men to perform. The valiant theme was portrayed through a song narrative of King Kesar and Queen Dugumar . The king’s conquests were depicted by handful of men dressed as soldiers with real bows and arrows. When they aimed the arrows at the audience for a moment we freezed  lest some arrow leave the bow. The dancers handled it so very deftly that although the arrows left the bows, next moment we found that the arrows were still in their hand, which they then put back in the quivers that they were sporting on their backs. All the action in a dance and song form.

This followed with a Chartses dance performed by the women to welcome the birds in summer. The migratory birds leave the place in winter and return in summer. The ladies were wearing bright turquoise Kurta and Green duppattas. The dupattas were worn to depict wings of the birds.  They celebrate the arrival of birds in summer.

The Jabro dance from the nomadic area of Jabr in the Changtheng area (mostly Tibetans) is performed mainly by vigorous thumping of feet by young men and women, while the elders prepare meals. The mainstay of the people of Jabr  is rearing of Yaks and the Jabro dance is a part of the Losar celebrations that welcome the New Year. It’s a chance for the young to intermingle just like we have New Year parties.

 The Mentok Stanmo dance comes from a region rich in dairy products and is performed by 25 young men and women. It is a happy merry dance.

The list cannot be complete without mentioning the sacred Mask dance or the Cham dance performed by the lamas in the monasteries and is a part of the religious festivities ringing in the victory of the good over the evil. It depicts incidents from the life and times of Padmasambhava or the Buddha. The entire village attached to the monastery attends just like our Durga Puja or Ganesh festivals. The festivities include pujas, traditional music and dances. The elaborately painted masks are used to signify the evil tendencies as well as the good and one look at the mask immediately deciphers one from the other.

Finally the show ended with the Tashispa dance, which means happy ending. As per Ladakhi tradition any dance show starts with Lharna and ends with Tashispa. We all joined the dancers at the end of the dance and the musicians hastened their beats to make it a fast number.

After that show, Ladakhis with their affable smile were no more strangers of an unknown land but our own brethren of Incredible India!

Anagha Hunnurkar

August 30, 2012