Festivals of Leh Ladakh
We all love to travel, explore and learn new things and it is the best feeling when you get to attend the local festivals while on the trip. Festivals show the culture, tradition of the place, their history and various art forms and their beliefs.
Below is the list of festivals in Leh Ladakh. Planning a Leh Ladakh trip, you can take these local festivals into consideration and Can plan your trip accordingly in order to experience the ladakhi tradition and satiating your inner wanderer, both at the same time.
List of Festivals in Leh Ladakh :
There are about 15-20 festivals which people of ladakh celebrate with great zeal, of which about a few falls on our travel season.1
You will experience the Buddhist culture and traditions if you are part of atleast one among the many festivals. Below is details of festivals with their dates and the way of celebration so that you plan your trip to Ladakh accordingly.
29TH MAY 2018 – SAKA DAWA FESTIVAL
VENUE: ALL OVER LADAKH
– Saka Dawa marks the birth of Sakyamuni, one of the titles of Lord Buddha. This festival signifies Disu Month of tibetan language and coincides with three main events of Buddha’s life: Birth, Nirvana and Par Nirvana (Death).
12TH JUNE 2018 – 13TH JUNE 2018 – YURU KABGYAT FESTIVAL
VENUE: LAMAYURU MONASTERY
– Yuru Kabgyat is a two day festival. Mask dances, prayers and rituals are performed by the monks of the monastery to prevent any kind of disaster and to bring peace in this world.
23RD JUNE 2018 – 24TH JUNE 2018 – HEMIS FESTIVAL
VENUE: HEMIS MONASTERY
– It is one of the famous and prime festivals of Leh Ladakh. Hemis begins on the 10th day of the Tibetan Lunar month in the courtyard of the biggest Buddhist monastery, Hemis Gompa. Hemis festival marks the birth anniversary of Ladakh’s spiritual leader Padmasambhava.
1st JULY 2018 – 2ND JULY 2018 – GUSTOR FESTIVAL
VENUE: STONGDAY MONASTERY
– Stongday Gustor festival is celebrated on the 11th month of the Tibetan Calendar i.e. June. One of the grandest and glorious festivals of Ladakh, the main highlight of this festival is the masked dance performed by the lamas.
11TH JULY 2018 – 12TH JULY 2018 – KARSHA GUSTOR FESTIVAL
VENUE: KARSHA MONASTERY
– Karsha Gustor is celebrated in remembrance of the victory of good over evil. Black hat dance and masked dance are performed by the monks on this occasion.
25TH SEPTEMBER 2018 – 28TH SEPTEMBER 2018 – LADAKH FESTIVAL
VENUE: ALL OVER LADAKH
– The number of cultural troupes from various parts from Ladakh participates in the inaugural ceremony. The performers adorn themselves in traditional ladakhi outfits and display wonderful performances. It takes place lavishly in the city of Leh.
27TH OCTOBER 2018 – 28TH OCTOBER 2018 – THIKSEY GUSTOR FESTIVAL
VENUE: THIKSEY
– Early morning prayers are performed during this festival in order to commemorate the victory of good over evil. After the festival comes to an end, Torma (sacrificial cake) is distributed by the leader of the black hat dancers during a ceremony called ‘Argham’.
2ND DECEMBER 2018 – GALDAN NAMCHOT FESTIVAL
VENUE: ALL OVER LADAKH
– The festival is celebrated as the tribute to Tibetan saint- scholar Tsongkhapa, he preached Buddhism during 14th century. This festival means the New year celebration in Ladakh that goes on till the Dosmoche festival. Various traditional delicacies are prepared like vegetable and chicken soup or thupkas. They present ‘Khatak’ a traditional ceremony scarf to each other.
8TH DECEMBER 2018 – LOSAR FESTIVAL
VENUE: ALL OVER LADAKH
– This festival marks as the birth anniversary of Tsogkha pa, founder of Gelukpa School. Losar falls in the 11th month of Tibetan calendar. Gods, Animals, and Ancestors are fed properly without any delay. A procession of fire (Metho) is organized to ward of evil spirits.
3RD JANUARY 2019 – 4TH JANUARY 2019 – SPITUK GUSTOR FESTIVAL
VENUE: SPITUK MONASTERY
– It is an annual winter celebration in Ladakh. It is held in 28th and 29th days of the 11th month of Tibetan calendar. The mask dance, Cham is the highlight in Spituk Gustor. Monks from many monasteries of the world such as Stok, Saboo, Sankar and Spituk gather at the monastery during this festival.
Share this with your friends who are travelling to Leh Ladakh this year. Let us know your views through the comments.
Happy Travelling!
This information was much needed by me the different festivals of Ladakh really well and detailed information given us about festivals looks amazing and interesting as well as beautiful. Thanks for sharing great help.
Thanks Vipul. We try and do our best to give every reader detailed information.