The three-day Singhey-Khababs Spring Festival of Ladakh, previously known as Sindhu Darshan, began in the land of celebrations on Saturday.
The carnival of life, as the organisers wish to call the event, was inaugurated by chief minister Omar Abdullah in the presence of a battery of local and visiting politicians, social and religious leaders and top officials of civil administration and security forces. It is expected to draw large number of domestic and foreign tourists to the land of endless discovery.
Already, hundreds of enthusiastic foreign tourists and many those from across the country are camping in the area to witness the celebrations attached to the festival.
As many 13 Monastic festivals are held in and around Leh, the cultural capital of Ladakh, besides three in Zanaskar and one at Nubra, the other two predominantly Buddhist areas of the landlocked region.
At the inaugural ceremony, the major highlights that the participants from different parts of the country had brought water from the rivers of their own states in earthen pots and immersed these pots in the Sindhu river.
This was a ritualistic formality whereby the waters of all rivers mingled together, thereby symbolising the multi-dimensional cultural identity of India, said minister for tourism and culture Nawang Rigzin Jora, himself a Ladakhi Buddhist.
The Singhey Khebab festival in particular showcases the historical and cultural importance of the Indus. The festival as Sindhu Darshan was added to the long list of Ladakhi festivals by the BJP-led coalition government at the Centre only a decade ago and half.
In fact, Mr L.K. Advani, the planner and choreographer of this festival, tried his best to make it the single biggest draw for the tourists particularly Hindus who worship the Sindh river.
But the saffron tag of the festival annoyed many Ladakhis who take pains in preserving their distinct culture and, at the same time, ensuring that its culture and all events related to their ethos remain apolitical.
As the Sindhu Darshan took political and even communal shades much to their discomfiture, they persuaded the authorities to rename it as Ladakh Singge-Khababs Spring Festival. Singge Khababs in Ladakhi means the river that comes out of the lion’s mouth. The festival is celebrated on the full moon day (Guru Poornima) in the month of June every year.