14th
IALS Conference Report, Leh 2009
The 14th IALS conference took place in Leh from 16th to
19th July. This was the fourth IALS conference to be held
in Leh, and the first in the Grand Dragon Hotel. As with
similar events in the past, it was notable for the
diversity of the participants’ national and academic
backgrounds and its relaxed atmosphere, combined with
stimulating discussions both inside the conference rooms
and on the fringes.
More than 60 papers were presented at the conference by a
wide range of scholars who between them represented Ladakh
and other parts of India as well as Austria, the Czech
Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, the UK and
the US.
The number of papers and the variety of topics is an
indicator of the continuing health of Ladakh studies, and
the creativity of scholars working in the area. One of the
most encouraging features of the conference was the large
number of papers by younger as well as more experienced
Ladakhi scholars. Shri Ghulam Hassan Khan, Ladakh’s Member
of Parliament, also mentioned the need to encourage younger
Ladakhi scholars when he briefly attended the conference on
the third day.
Keynote address
The keynote address was by Salman Haidar, the grandson of
Hasmatullah Khan who served in Ladakh as a Jammu &
Kashmir government official in the early years of the 20th
century, and was the author of Tārīkh Jammūn, Kashmīr,
Laddākh aur Baltistān (Lucknow 1939).
Mr Haidar is himself a distinguished former diplomat. His
postings included a stint as Indian Ambassador to Bhutan
from 1980 to 1983 and, during his visit to Ladakh, he was
particularly keen to visit Stagna monastery because of its
historic links with the Drukpa Kagyupa sect in Bhutan. Mr
Haidar’s other postings included periods as Indian Deputy
High Commissioner (1987-1991) and High Commissioner to the
UK (1998), Ambassador to China (1991-92), and Foreign
Secretary (1995-1997). He mentioned that he had previously
visited Ladakh for a series of briefings before leaving for
China, and had been given a ‘warm reception’ by the local
Tibetan community who mistook him for the Chinese
ambassador to India.
In his address, Mr Haidar discussed his grandfather’s work
in Ladakh, and his affection for the region. Hashmatullah
Khan’s history remains an important source both because of
its extensive use of oral tradition – much of which is now
lost - as well as documentary records. He had become a
personal friend of the Italian scholar Giotto Dainelli, who
first visited Ladakh in 1909, and had visited him in Italy
after completing the hajj. In retirement, he passed on his
reminiscences of Ladakh to his grandchildren.
Hashmatullah’s personal legacy in Ladakh includes the
construction of an irrigation canal in Kargil which still
exists.
Papers
The conference programme
and
abstracts give an idea of the breadth
of contemporary Ladakh Studies. For the first time the
conference was arranged in parallel sessions, thus
allowing more time for discussion, but also presenting
many of us with difficult choices as we often had to
decide between two equally exciting sessions.
As in previous conferences, History of Art was well
represented with sessions on Alchi, Buddhist Art,
Restoration and Planning. On 17th July, the CIBS welcomed
us to lunch at their Choglamsar campus, and we were able to
view a selection of excellent photographs of Alchi, which
have been displayed in an exhibition in New Delhi, and are
shortly to be exhibited in Mumbai. The restoration and
conservation of Ladakh’s art, architecture and material
culture likewise remains an important theme.
Other aspects of Ladakhi religious, social and political
heritage were discussed in two panels on history, and a
third on Buddhist nuns. The origin and concept of ‘Bhoti’
was reviewed in the language panel, and a session on
anthropology/ethnography looked at topics ranging from
sacred trees to monastic dance and the cultural
significance of Pa-ta Gonbo in the Nubra valley.
Ladakh’s natural environment and contemporary health issues
were discussed in a series of panels on wildlife, food
diversity and resource management, climate change and
women’s health. These served as a reminder that Ladakhi
culture itself rests on distinctive and at times fragile
ecological foundations.
Decisions on how to manage the Ladakhi environment impinge
on contemporary politics and social change. Current
political and development issues were discussed in a series
of panels on politics and on development, media, education
and tourism
Films
This was one of the first IALS conferences that included a
number of films as part of the conference programme. The
films were either shown grouped together under themes,
interspersed with relevant papers or stand-alone
screenings. In recent years many Ladakhis have become
actively involved in acting and film production, and there
is now a small but dynamic local film industry in Ladakh.
Some of the more popular films that have emerged are
‘Delwa’ (directed by Dorjay Wangchuk Mogol and T Angdu
Lonpo) and ‘Migchu’ (Zangpo Sakti and Stanzin Gya).
Most of the films screened were documentary and covered
topics such as the status of Buddhist nuns (‘Shadow of
Buddha’, Heather Kessinger, 2009), climate change and the
impact of globalization (‘Living With Change - Voices from
Ladakh’, World Wildlife Foundation, 2009 and ‘Taming the
Dragon’, Robert ffollkes and Namgyal Thangthong, 2009). One
film – ‘The Culture of Here’ (Abdul Nasir Khan, 2007) –
focused on Ladakh’s trading history and material culture.
Others were from the genre of docu-drama: ‘Das Alte Ladakh’
(‘The Old Ladakh’, Clemens Kuby, 1986), ‘Thin Ice’ (Håkan
Berthas, 2007) and ‘Behind the Ice Wall’ (Peter Getzels and
Harriet Gordon, 1995). Two films screened were commercial
cinema – ‘Frozen’ (Shivajee Chandrabhushan, 2007) and ‘Las
Del’ (Dorjey Wangchuk and Wangdus Saspol).
The film screening began with an introduction to films in
Ladakh by Ravina Aggarwal, who looked at the impact of both
Bollywood and Hollywood films on the region and discussed
Ladakh’s nascent film industry. All the films were
presented by their directors or actors (depending on who
was present) and screenings were followed by fruitful
discussions.
Dinner and cultural programme
On 16th July the Central Institute of Buddhist Studies
(CIBS) generously hosted a dinner for conference
participants at the Grand Dragon Hotel. The evening began
with Morup Namgyal, Ladakh’s foremost singer, song-writer
and dramatist, reciting some songs for the group. This was
followed by a performance of Ladakhi dance and music
presented by the Leh branch of the Jammu & Kashmir
Cultural Academy. The Academy’s performance provided a
stimulating and pleasurable reminder of the diversity of
Ladakh’s contemporary culture. The evening was graced by
the presence of Leh’s District Commissioner, Shri Ajit
Kumar Sahu, and the Chief Executive Councillor of the
Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Shri Chhering
Dorje.
As noted above, the CIBS also arranged a lunch for
conference participants on the second day of the
conference.
General meeting
The IALS General Meeting took place in two sessions: the
first on the opening day of the conference introduced the
proposed revised IALS constitution. The second session,
which took place on the final day, provided for discussions
of future plans as well as elections to the Executive and
Advisory Committees (see separate reports on
the meeting and on the
constitution).
The main part of the conference concluded with a dinner at
Leh’s renowned ‘Tibetan Kitchen’ on the evening of 18th
July.
Excursions
On 19th July, conference participants had a choice between
two excursions. The first was led by the Tibet Heritage
Foundation, and involved a walking tour of the Old Town of
Leh. Our guides gave a detailed explanation both of the
past history of the town and of contemporary efforts to
restore its ancient buildings, and adapt them to modern
uses.
The second tour was led by Dr Phuntsog Dorje, and involved
a short coach trip outside Leh. Phuntsog began by
explaining the iconography of the well-known rock sculpture
below the gonpa and castle in Shey, and then took us to the
ruins of the former Nyarma monastery on the far side of
Thikse.
A third trip was organised by Dr Tsering Phuntsog to Leh’s
Pashmina processing plant to see the process of cleaning
and carding the fibre.
Conference
excursion: Dr Sonam Phuntsog explains the history and
iconography of the rock sculpture at Shey
Acknowledgements
Many people came together to help make the conference a
success and we are thankful to all of them for their
support. The first is Dr Nawang Tsering and CIBS for
agreeing to collaborate with IALS for the conference. We
are grateful to Chhering Dorje, Chief Executive Councillor,
for supporting our application for funding to the State
Tourism Department and to the latter for agreeing to
support us. For his help in Leh we are thankful to Nisar
Hussain, Assistant Director Tourism, as well as to Saleem
Beg, former Director General Tourism, for his very helpful
advice.
We would like to thank the J & K Cultural Academy,
especially Nawang Shakspo, the Director of the Academy’s
Leh office, for arranging the cultural programme on the
first night of the conference. To the management and staff
at the Grand Dragon Hotel we are most appreciative of the
good facilities they offered us, their hospitality and
attentiveness to satisfy all our demands. We are also
thankful to those who helped us organise the post
conference trips, mainly Tibet Heritage Foundation,
Phuntsog Dorje and Dr Tsering Phuntsog. To Wangchuk Fargo
we are thankful for the use of his office in the days
leading up to the conference and for help organising
accommodation and transport.
To members in the IALS committee we would like to
acknowledge the support and help of Francesca Merritt,
Tashi Morup and Ghani Sheikh. We couldn’t have done it
without them. We thank Ravina Aggarwal and Kim Gutschow,
who joined the President and Secretary on the Review
Committee, for their hard work in going through all the
abstracts; and Kaneez Fathima for encouraging women from
the college in Kargil to attend. We are indebted to Sunetro
Ghosal for much practical help and support at many levels.
We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible in
Aberdeen in 2011.
Julley.
Monisha Ahmed and John Bray
The final morning
at the Grand Dragon