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November      Last updated: Nov 20,  5:00 p.m.

Call of Jammu & Kashmir - XI

Shiva temple at Tangla Pass

Shrikant Joshi

(Continued from the last issue)

THIS racial impression reminded us of our visit to the Hemis gumpha. There one of the lamas had told us an astonishing story. He said the Zanskar Valley has a certain Laddakhi tribe called "Darad". Among the Europeans, especially the blonde race of the German, the French and the Swede there is a belief that the Darads are the truest and the purest descendents of the Aryans.

Therefore many couples come from these countries. They stay here for several days. The European women many Darad men and thus carry the Aryan seed to Europe to have a pure Aryan progeny. This is because of the unusual racial pride on the Aryan pedigree among the Germans and the Swedish. When we visited the Japanese pagoda in Leh we had found many such couples living in rented quarters near the pagoda. The same area also has a concentration of Darad people.

These Darads are tall, heavily built, with the typical Aryan high and wide forehead. Their dress is a turban, dhoti and kurta and a vest. This is the common traditional attire of the Laddakhi. The women however wear long gowns. Many men also wear gowns.

We set out in the direction of Manali. After about 50 km the road rose to a height of about 15,500 ft from the sea level. It was now passing through the snow-covered mountains. Our car was climbing a steeper gradient, so it had slowed down. We continued this steady climb till high noon but soon were stopped. The road ahead was closed because earlier heavy rain and snow had made the going very difficult. The weather had turned chilly. The road ahead was covered with two to two and a half feet deep snow. Therefore the traffic was stopped. The Border Road Organisation's men were removing the ice with bulldozers. 

At one point there was a long line of trucks, jeeps, military vehicles as also buses and private vehicles awaiting clearance. These were no less than 50. We also joined the queue of stranded vehicles. After a halt of over an hour, we were allowed to proceed, with a warning to go slow for fear of skidding. Our motorcade was led by few trucks. Snow was everywhere. We were getting an impression as if we were enjoying boating over the legendary milk-sea. There was not a trace of any greenery. At intervals our transport crossed the slushy patches half skidding and half going on turning wheels. It took us an hour and a half to reach the top. At that spot some trucks and other vehicles were found waiting for clearance. Our caravan was trailing a bulldozer and thus we reached the highest spot near the Tangla pass. There we stopped the car and stepped on to the road. The height was 17,500 ft from sea level. This is the highest site on the Leh-Manali road.

There is a small Shiva temple. Its roof too was covered with snow. At this height due to deficiency of atmospheric oxygen, one feels fatigue very soon. This results in high blood pressure or difficulty in breathing. Yashwant Shinde who was in our group suffered from nausea and fever. Shri Heramb Kolhatkar began shivering with cold. Only Shri Lakshmandev, the driver and I could walk up to the Shiva temple that was nearby. The temple was fully snow-covered. After Shiva-darshan we roamed about in the snow and as we wore out we returned to the car. We also threw snow balls on one another before we got into our transport.

It was two in the afternoon and it started snowing when we resumed our journey. We were told that this road would close for winter in a little over a week. The snow would be around 10 ft deep in winter. The army posts are withdrawn from this region in winter. The temple also would be under a thick cover of snow.

Leaving Tangla behind we resumed our journey towards Pang. The highest motorable road happens to be near the Swandung Pass about 40 km north-west of Leh. At that span of the road the height is 18,330 ft. The stretch of road near Tangla Pass has the height of 17,660 and that happens to be the second highest stretch of motorable road. Now we had passed the highest point and going downward the vehicle picked up speed. We were all famished. We had already finished the packets of biscuits and spicy parched rice that we had taken along when we left Leh. We had also to seek some medical aid for Yashwant Shinde. At the Tangla Pass a soldier also had boarded our transport. He too was to reach Pang. So we had to take a short break at Pang.

At 4 in the afternoon we touched Pang. We were already ravenous and utterly at the end of our tether. We came upon a dhaba in Pang. There were beds also for those who would take rest. So Yashwant Shinde could be ensconced in one of them, and we went to a mountain stream where we washed and freshened up with the chilly water. As we returned, hot parantha and curry were served. We had the meal with an unusual gusto and downed it with piping hot coffee. Thus rejuvenated we set out again on our odyssey.
                                                                                                               (To be concluded)