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There is little tradition of
artistic craftsmanship in Ladakh. Most of the luxury articles
in the past have been obtained through imports. The exception
is the village of Chiling, about 19 kms. up the Zanskar river
from Nima. Here, a community of metal workers, said to be the
descendants of artisans brought from Nepal in the mid 17th
century, build one of the gigantic Buddha images at Shey and
carry on their hereditary work. Working on silver,
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brass and copper, they produce exquisite items
for domestic and religious use like tea and chang pots, teacup
stands and lids, hookkah bases, ladles, bowls and,
occasionally, silver chorten for installation in temples and
domestic shrines.
Those who cannot
afford the expensive ware of the Chiling craftsmen, use
bowls and cooking pots they need for everyday use, and
agricultural implements as supplied by local blacksmiths
(gara). The gara also make the large and ornate iron
stoves seen in kitchens of the richer Ladakhi homes. In
general, craftsmanship has not developed beyond the
production of everyday items for personal and domestic
use. Pattu, the rough, warm, woolen material used for clothing is made from
locally produced wool, spun by women on drop-spindles, and
woven by semi-professional weavers on portable looms set up in
the winters, or under the shade of a tree in summers. Baskets
are used for the transport of any kind of things like manure
for the fields, fresh vegetables and even to carry babies. The
baskets are woven out of willow twigs, or particular variety
of grass. Wood work is confined largely to the production of
pillars and carved lintels for the houses, and the low carved
tables that are a feature of every Ladakhi living-room. |
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Many such items,
together with others which were recently introduced as
part of the development process, are available in the
District Handicrafts Centre at Leh, which exists to
train local people as well as to market their products.
There you can find, in addition to traditional objects,
a few special items like Pashmina shawls which are very
rough as compared with soft and warm shawls produced in
Srinagar and carpets whose designs and techniques were
borrowed from Tibet. Similar carpets are also to be had
at the Tibetan Refugee Centre at Choglamsar. The
Handicrafts |
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Centre also has a department
of Thangka painting. These icons on cloth were executed in
accordance with strict guidelines handed down from past
generations. In the same tradition are the mural paintings in
the gompas, where semi-professional, both monks and laymen,
labour to keep the walls decorated with images symbolizing the
various aspects of the Buddhist Way. The skill of building
religious statues is also not extinct. The gigantic
representation of Maitreya, was installed in Thiksey Gompa as
recently as the early 1980's. |
