Summer Holiday Destinations in North India

Ladakh : For those who need a thrilling destination for their summer holidays in India, Ladakh is the ultimate getaway. With a myriad of interesting best places to visit in Ladakh, you can be sure of an amazing vacation. The mighty mountain peaks, the breath-taking views, the stunning lakes, and the perfect weather makes it a perfect vacation destination.

Places to visit: Zanskar Valley, Pangong Tso Lake, Khardung-La Pass, Spituk Gompa, and Hemis National Park

Things to do: Watch the Llamas perform colorful Chhams, spot a snow leopard at the Hemis National Park, ride a double-humped Bactrian camel, and ride a bike up to the Khardung-La Pass

 

Care to drive on some of the highest motorable passes in the world or how about a camel safari in the desert in the sky? We bring to you over 35 Ladakh Tour Packages, tastefully crafted to offer you a vacation in India that will remain etched in your memory forever.Explore the scintillating Buddhist Monasteries where you’d find ancient Tantric Buddhism still in practice. Travel to the emerald Pangong Tso Lake or the breathtaking Tso Moriri.

Do the thrilling mountain biking from Khardung La; the highest motorable pass in the world and do the double humped Bactrian Camel Safari in the sand dunes at Hunder in Nubra Valley.Take your pick from our Ladakh holiday packages and explore the land of lamas and soak into the ethereal surroundings, friendly people and the thrill of the Greater Himalayas.Plan a trip by road to Ladakh or fly away to this barren beauty with our air packages. You can even do the trip to Ladakh with our motorcycle tour packages from Manali.Select the one that suits you best and embark on this once in a lifetime calling

Rock carvings found in many parts of Ladakh indicate that the area has been inhabited from Neolithic times. Ladakh’s earliest inhabitants consisted of a mixed Indo-Aryanpopulation of Mons and Dards, who find mention in the worksof Herodotus,Nearchus, Megasthenes, Pliny,Ptolemy, and the geographical lists of the Puranas.Around the 1st century, Ladakh was a part the Kushana empire. Buddhism spread into western Ladakh from Kashmir in the 2nd century when much of eastern Ladakh and western Tibet was still practising the Bon religion. The 7th century Buddhist traveler Xuanzang describes the region in his accounts.

In the 8th century, Ladakh was involved in the clash between Tibetan expansion pressing from the East and Chinese influence exerted from Central Asia through the passes. Suzerainty over Ladakh frequently changed hands between China and Tibet. In 842 Nyima-Gon, a Tibetan royal representative annexed Ladakh for himself after the break-up of the Tibetan empire, and founded a separate Ladakhi dynasty. During this period Ladakh acquired a predominantly Tibetan population. The dynasty spearheaded the second spreading of Buddhism, importing religious ideas from north-west India, particularly from Kashmir. The first spreading of Buddhism was the one in Tibet proper.

According to Rolf Alfred Stein, author of Tibetan Civilization, the area of Zhangzhung was not historically a part of Tibet and was a distinctly foreign territory to the Tibetans. According to Rolf Alfred Stein

Then further west, The Tibetans encountered a distinctly foreign nation — Shangshung, with its capital at Khyunglung. Mt. Kailāśa(Tise) and Lake Manasarovar formed part of this country, whose language has come down to us through early documents. Though still unidentified, it seems to be Indo-European. … Geographically the country was certainly open to India, both through Nepal and by way of Kashmir and Ladakh. Kailāśa is a holy place for the Indians, who make pilgrimages to it. No one knows how long they have done so, but the cult may well go back to the times when Shangshung was still independent of Tibet.

How far Zhangzhung stretched to the north, east and west is a mystery … We have already had an occasion to remark that Shangshung, embracing Kailāśa sacred Mount of the Hindus, may once have had a religion largely borrowed from Hinduism. The situation may even have lasted for quite a long time. In fact, about 950, the Hindu King of Kabulhad a statue of Vişņu, of the Kashmiri type (with three heads), which he claimed had been given him by the king of the Bhota (Tibetans) who, in turn had obtained it from Kailāśa

A chronicle of Ladakh compiled in the 17th century called the La dvags royal rabs, meaning the Royal Chronicle of the Kings of Ladakh recorded that this boundary was traditional and well-known. The first part of the Chronicle was written in the years 1610–1640 and the second half towards the end of the 17th century. The work has been translated into English by A. H. Francke and published in 1926 in Calcutta titled the Antiquities of Indian Tibet. In volume 2, the Ladakhi Chronicle describes the partition by King Skyid-lde-ngima-gon of his kingdom between his three sons, and then the chronicle described the extent of territory secured by that son. The following quotation is from page 94 of this book . He gave to each of his sons a separate kingdom, viz., to the eldest Dpal-gyi-gon, Maryul of Mngah-ris, the inhabitants using black bows; ru-thogs of the east and the Gold-mine of Hgog; nearer this way Lde-mchog-dkar-po; at the frontier ra-ba-dmar-po; Wam-le, to the top of the pass of the Yi-mig rock

From a perusal of the aforesaid work, It is evident that Rudokh was an integral part of Ladakh. Even after the family partition, Rudok continued to be part of Ladakh. Maryul meaning lowlands was a name given to a part of Ladakh. Even at that time, i.e. in the 10th century, Rudok was an integral part of Ladakh and Lde-mchog-dkar-po, i.e., Demchok was an integral part of Ladakh. Faced with the Islamic conquest of South Asia in the 13th century, Ladakh chose to seek and accept guidance in religious matters from Tibet. For nearly two centuries till about 1600, Ladakh was subject to raids and invasions from neighbouring Muslim states, which led to the partial conversion of Ladakhis to Noorbakshi Islam.