Ladakh > People & Customs

Buddhism is firmly meshed into the Ladakhi way of life (with the exception of the Muslim dominated Kargil and Suru valley), the numerous monasteries and thousands of young and old lamas traversing the streets and alleys bear testimony to that. Ladakhi is the main spoken language. The main source of income comes from farming and handicraft. Even tourism is a budding industry now.

MARRIAGE CEREMONIES
Marriages are usually initiated by the boy's parents when he is about 20 years old. They visit the girl’s place with the marriage proposal and if it is accepted, the lamas are consulted to select an auspicious date for the occasion.

The marriage celebration usually lasts all night, beginning in the late evening when the families arrive, each bringing food for the wedding feast. During the night-long celebration, the groom will often dance and certainly drink chang, while the bride is expected to remain sitting, often in the kitchen. The bride and groom are both presented with ceremonial khatas and often with sums of money.

Toward sunrise, the bride is led to the groom's family home where she is met by lamas and of course, her new family. In the ensuing ceremony, the bride initially refuses food until she is led from her father to her new husband, with whom she then shares a meal. The bride is then shown the house and by sunrise, the ceremony is complete. The celebration, however, will continue much longer with music, food and chang.

A different type of marriage is usually conducted when a person is marrying for a second time (due to death or divorce) or the individuals involved are poor. In this type of marriage called Skus-te-Khyong-ches or "to bring by theft" the matchmaking arrangements are similar to those described above but the bride is quietly brought to her new home. Several days later, relatives and friends are invited for a meal and the public is considered informed of the marriage.

Although it is usual for the bride to move to her husband's family home, the reverse may occur if the girl's family is wealthy or if her family does not have sons, in which case the groom will carry on the girl's family name.

FUNERALS
Ladakhis practice cremation of their dead except in a few instances such as children or persons who died of smallpox. After a ceremony in the home of the deceased, the corpse is carried to a type of walled oven where, with many prayers by attending lamas, it is cremated. The ashes are then scattered in a holy river but persons of high standing will have their ashes placed in a chorten.

The ashes of a high lama will often be mixed with clay and formed into a miniature chorten only a few inches high. This will be placed in another chorten, which may be a highly decorated and bejewelled chorten located inside a gompa or plain chorten like so many which dot the Ladakhi landscape.

Children below the age of seven or eight are never cremated. Instead, a lama will decide the most auspicious method to use in disposing off the body. The various methods include embalming the body and leaving it on a mountainside, placing it in a river or embalming and burying it.

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