An Ancient Inquisition

Eastern Ladakh has a string of villages on the banks of the gushing Indus where past the ancient capital and the trees lined with prayer flags, lies an expressive mark of Ladakhi history. Drawing in from a distance to the village of Stakna, an image appears… the face of a craggy mountain peak, rising from the Indus with a monastery perched on the tip of its nose.  

The village possesses sacred history of which a testament lies in wake. The road behind the monastery leads to an ancestral house that has now been preserved for 200 years. The structure tells a transparent tale of the eldest daughter of the family, who now lives adjacently in a contemporary Ladakhi home. 

As you enter the antiquated home, a timeless charm suggests discovery. Traditional chortens embellish the entrance beyond which is a large shed for the cattle. A wooden ladder leads above to a diminutive doorway, reestablishing the antiquity of the house. The smaller the windows or the doorways, the older the house for the most crucial aspect of architecture was to ensure that the structure was in harmony with its environment and equipped to handle the harsh climate. Without a care for aesthetic appeal, in olden days houses were built with mud brick, insulation and tiny windows and doors. This ensured that in the frigidity of Ladakhs winter the house remained warm, as the insulation used solar energy to warm the house and small windows and doors kept the cold out. Ingeniously, the desert heat would also be kept at bay, as mud brick remains cool during the summer. Without the use of modern day technology, a Ladakhi home would thus ensure that it remained sustainable and climatically comfortable!  

Each room in the house is designated with a certain purpose. The Changsa or the kitchen/dining space is the primary communal area of the house and reinforces the tight knit bonds that a Ladakhi family shares. Far from individualistic, a Ladakhi family would traditionally share all household affairs. 

Coming together in the communal, family room is an age-old tradition. With an attached kitchen and a traditional Ladhaki Thap or mudbrick fire oven in the middle of the room, the entire family could partake in the cooking process, over which, they would exchange anecdotes, share news and catch up. 

However, time has witnessed a shift in the traditional way of life, adopting contemporary change. Consumerism has replaced many traditional aspects and objects of a Ladakhi home, taking away the nuances of an ancient culture and replacing it with the standard goods of globalisation. While change is inevitable, the pressing question that surfaces is if the change needs to be less reckless and more considerate.