Lahaul and Spiti
| Lahaul and Spiti Districts लाहौल और स्पीती जिला |
|
|---|---|
|
|
| State | Himachal Pradesh |
| Administrative headquarters : | Keylong |
| Area : | 13,841 km² |
| Residents : | 31,564 (2011) |
| Population density : | 2 people / km² |
| Website : | hplahaulspiti.nic.in |
Lahaul and Spiti ( Hindi : लाहौल और स्पीती Lāhaul aur Spītī [ lɑˈhɔːl ɔːr ˈspiːti ]) is the largest in terms of area, but the most sparsely populated district of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh .
geography
Lahaul and Spiti district is bordered to the north by Ladakh , on the east by the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China , in the southeast of the district Kinnaur , to the south and west by the Kullu valley , on the west by Chamba (to which belonged to 1971 parts of the western Lahauls ) and cashmere. The district was politically united. Geographically as well as culturally, Lahaul has more connections to Kullu in its south and Zanskar in the north, Spiti to Kinnaur in the south and Rupshu (nomad region in the easternmost Ladakh) in the north.
The landscape and climate also differ: Lahaul lies in the rain shadow of the Pir Panjal chain , but is still covered by rainfall from the Indian plains. The glaciation in the interior is correspondingly strong ( Chandrabhaga chain with over 100 ice peaks up to 6517 m high). The villages of Lahaul are mainly located above the valleys of the Chandra and Bhaga rivers (after their confluence at Tandi: Chandrabhaga ) at an altitude of 2500–3500 m. ( see also: Miyar Glacier )
Spiti, on the other hand, is dry, in the shadow of the main Himalayan ridge, higher up, and much less populated than Lahoul. Numerous villages are located in the main valley of the Spiti river , which forms from three glacier rivers at Lossar (4100 m) and leaves at about 3300 m at Sumdo Spiti to Kinnaur. Because of the "inversion landscape" there are also stately villages and alpine pastures, especially on the plateaus above 4200 m (Kibber, Langza, Komik, Demul, etc.), because the plateaus are less dry than the valleys.
The most important side valley of the hospital is the Pintal , which branches off to the south towards Kinnaur. Spiti's northeastern areas, up to the highest peak Gya (6794 m) at the triangle Spiti / Ladakh / Tibet, are almost inaccessible to this day.
The district capital Kyelang is also the largest place in Lahaul. The largest place in Spiti is Kaza as the administrative headquarters of the Spiti sub-division and Tehsils Kaza.
Lahaul has a relative prosperity today because it is the most fertile potato producer in the world thanks to sophisticated artificial irrigation. In the much drier Spiti, the traditional barley fields that are necessary for self-sufficiency in the Tibetan culture are increasingly being replaced by pea fields (for sale in Indian markets).
Administrative division
The district is divided into 2 sub-divisions (Lahaul, Spiti) and 2 Tehsils (Kaza, Keylong).
Language, culture and religion
Both a Tibetan dialect and Hindi are spoken in Spiti and Lahaul . There are also four other languages in Lahaul, the origin of which has not yet been adequately clarified. The main religion in Spiti is Tibetan Buddhism in its most authentic form. Lahaul is Hindu in the more heavily populated lower valley regions and Buddhist in the upper valleys. There are numerous monasteries, temples (gompas) and shrines of local deities. Spiti is ethnically and culturally West Tibetan.
The most important Hindu temple is Markula Devi in Udaipur, with stelae from the 10th century, in the same iconography as in temple complexes in Changunarayan in the Kathmandu valley in Nepal (Vishnuism). Local patron of Lahaul is Raja Gyepang, who resides on the double summit of the same name in central Lahaul; his temple is in the village of Sissu in the lower Chandra valley .
The most important gompas include the Triloknath Temple in Tunde (pilgrimage site for Buddhists and Hindus), Khardang Gompa in Khardang (largest monastery in Lahaul), Ki Gompa above the Spitital (largest monastery in Spiti, seat of Lochen Tulku, the 19th reincarnation of the Rinchen Zangpo ), Dhankar Gompa and Kungri Gompa (oldest monastery) in Spiti.
The temple complex in Tabo is one of the most important Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in the world. It was founded by Rinchen Zangpo in 996, and some of the nine temple complexes are still in the original Indo-Tibetan style. The current Dalai Lama regards Spiti as one of his home regions. His spiritual teacher came from Kibber and died there too. The Dalai Lama has carried out several of his Kalachakra initiatives in Spiti (in Tabo, Ki and Kungri). He has expressed the wish to spend his retirement years in Spiti.
As a transit area between India and Tibet or East Turkestan, Lahaul has always been important, while Spiti was remote and at best was fought over between the kingdoms of Ladakh and Guge (western Tibet). Today Lahaul is (wrongly) only a transit area, while Spiti, closed to foreigners until 1992 due to its proximity to the border, has been booming in tourism since the late 1990s. Today, thanks to its membership of the Indian Union, Spiti is one of the few regions with an autochthonous Tibetan Buddhist culture.
literature
- Om Chanda Handa: Buddhist Monasteries in Himachal Pradesh. Indus Publishing Company, New Delhi 1987, ISBN 81-85182-03-5 .
- Shiva Chandra Bajpai: Lahaul-Spiti. A forbitten land in the Himalayas. 1st publishing, 2nd imprint. Indus Publishing Company, New Delhi 1992, ISBN 81-85182-01-9 .
- Ram Nath Sahni: Lahoul. The Mistery Land in the Himalayas. Indus Publishing Company, New Delhi 1994, ISBN 81-7387-017-9 .
- Harish Kapadia: Spiti. Adventures in the Trans-Himalaya. Indus Publishing Company, New Delhi 1996, ISBN 81-7387-045-4 .
- Minakshi Chaudhry: Exploring Pangi Himalaya. A World Beyond Civilization. Indus Publishing Company, New Delhi 1998, ISBN 81-7387-084-5 [for the Western Lahaul].
- Deepak Sanan, Dhanu Swadi: Exploring Kinnaur and Spiti in the Trans-Himalaya. Indus Publishing Company, New Delhi 1998, ISBN 81-7387-074-8 .
- Lahaul and Spiti. In: Bradley Mayhew, Richard Plunkett et al .: Indian Himalaya. 2nd edition. Lonely Planet Publications, Melbourne et al. 2000, ISBN 0-86442-688-7 , pp. 332-335.
- Ulrich Friebel: Trekking in Himachal Pradesh. NaturFreunde-Verlag, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-925311-23-8 .
- Peter van Ham : India's Tibet - Tibet's India. The cultural legacy of the Western Himalayas. Hirmer, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-7774-2221-3 .
Film documentaries
- Himalaya - Empire of the Wind Horse - Part 2 Spiti (Part 1 Ladakh , Part 3 Mustang ). TV documentary by Hajo Bermann from 2011.
Web links
- Official website of the district
- Spiti in the Himalayas: praying with a mountain view , article by Michael Martin in Spiegel Online , October 4, 2011
Individual evidence
- ↑ Website of the district ( Memento of the original from December 31, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Big text
Coordinates: 32 ° 35 ' N , 77 ° 8' E