Ladakh & Zanskar · Western Himalaya & Trans-Himalaya
The deeds of King Kesar of Ling — birth, trials, the winning of a kingdom and a series of campaigns — sung and narrated by a bard in instalments. The Ladakhi recensions relocate the story onto local landmarks, so a listener can point to the ridge where an episode is said to have happened.
Sung at: Winter nights, over several sittings.
Long, slow, praise-and-blessing songs of the old court repertoire, with fixed opening formulae addressed to the mountain, the household and the assembled company before the subject is reached.
Sung at: Formal gatherings, weddings, the reception of guests.
Sung exchanges between the two households, negotiating, praising, teasing and blessing at each stage — the arrival at the gate, the serving of chhang, the departure of the bride. The songs carry the protocol, so knowing them is knowing how a marriage is conducted.
Sung at: The several days of a marriage.
Work songs timed to the tread of the animals circling the threshing floor and to the rhythm of winnowing, with blessings for the grain and for the household's store.
Sung at: September and October, on the threshing floor.
Nomad dance songs about the herds, the passes, the wind and the seasonal move, sung in a line to the damnyan and to the dancers' own stamping.
Sung at: Losar and camp gatherings.
A well-known refrain-based song form with a call-and-response structure that a whole gathering can join, which is why it has become the piece most often sung at public occasions and on radio.
Sung at: Festivals, group singing.
Recitation of texts on a low sustained tone, with the deep overtone chanting of the senior ranks in some orders. It is memorised from books held in the monastery and is the region's oldest continuously transmitted sound.
Sung at: Daily and at festivals.
A repertoire that shares the Tibetic language family with Ladakhi and the devotional calendar with the Shia Muslim communities of the Suru and lower Shyok — the clearest place to hear the region's western edge as a blend rather than a boundary.
Sung at: Weddings, harvest, and the Muharram calendar in the Shia villages.
The folk songs of Ladakh & Zanskar — what they are about, who sings them and when. (8)