Where is Ladakh, and information about the history, culture, tradition and lifestyle of Ladakh

 Ladakh is a desert in the mountains in the eastern part of Jammu and Kashmir. Very little agriculture is possible here since this region does not receive any rainfall and is covered in snow for a large part of the year. There are very few trees that can grow in the region. For drinking water, people depend on melting snow during the summer months.

People here keep sheep and goats. The goats in this region are special because they produce pashmina wool. This wool is prized and pashmina shawls cost a lot of money. The people in Ladakh carefully collect the wool of the goats and sell this to traders from Kashmir. Pashmina shawls are chiefly woven in Kashmir.

The people eat meat and milk products like cheese and butter. Each family owns some goats, cows and dzos (yalk cows).

Ladakh was considered a good trade route as it had many passes through which caravans travelled to what is today called TIBET. These caravans carried textiles and spices,raw silk and carpets.

Buddhism reached Tibet via Ladakh . Ladakh is also called Little Tibet. Islam was introduced in this region more than four hundred years ago and there is a significant Muslim population here. Ladakh has a very rich oral tradition of songs and poems. Local versions of Tibetian national epic the Kesar Saga are performed and sung by both Muslims and Buddhists.