The Sindhu Darshan festival is a celebration of River Sindhu or Indus - one of the world's longest rivers, which gave 'India' its name. It is held every year from June 1-3 at Leh, Ladakh in the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir. Sindhu Darshan is a movement, which rediscovered the flowing legend of Ladakh with its imprints of fables, and a 5000 year old history embedded in its fertile silt, which has enriched humankind for ages. Each turn of the river unfolds a unique culture of the land it passes through. The Sindhu Darshan Festival aims at projecting the Sindhu as a symbol of multi-dimensional cultural identity, communal harmony and peaceful co-existence in India. Whilst promoting tourism to this area, this festival is also a symbolic salute to the brave soldiers of India who have bravely fought the odds at Siachin, Kargil & other places. The festival promises a kaleidoscope of Indian culture and an exciting array of performing arts being brought together at an exciting place. The first time when this Festival was organized in October 1997, over seventy people from all over India had traveled to Leh for a Darshan and Puja of the River Sindhu (Indus) which originates from the Mansarovar in Tibet.
The Indus River in Ladakh, locally known as the Singhe Khababs (out of Lion's mouth), flows across the north west to the south east, passing through Ladakh and flows into Pakistan where it joined Shayok and Suru to become major historical Indus River. The river is said to have originated from the mouth of a lion in Mansarovar, in China-controlled Tibet. Thus it is also called Sengge Tsangpo or Lion River. As it flows from Tibet to Ladakh to Pakistan before meeting the Arabian Sea, it symbolically binds the people of the three nations. It is a common lifeline. One only wishes these ties could secure peace between warring neighbours. One of the earliest human civilisations settled on the banks of the Indus. Even now, as you come down Tanglang La, you spot the first permanent settlements and green zone after Jispa at Rumtse, located along one of its tributaries.
The Indus river is the backbone of Ladakh—all the major places historically and currently, Shey, Leh, Basgo, and Tingmosgang, are situated close to the river. Water levels remain high during the month June to late August, which is the best season for fascinating rafting expeditions. The white water Indus has rapids generally of I and II grades and at some places, has grade III to even V rapids.
Ladakh is a region of India in the state of Jammu and Kashmir and lies between the Kunlun mountain range in the north and the main Great Himalayas to the south, inhabited by people of Indo-Aryan and Tibetan descent. It is one of the most sparsely populated regions in Jammu and Kashmir. It is also known as the "Land of High Passes". Ladakh is the highest plateau of state of Kashmir with much of it being over 3,000 m (9,800 ft). It spans the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges and the upper Indus River valley. Ladakh district was a district of the Jammu and Kashmir state of India until 1 July 1979 when it was divided into Leh district and Kargil district. Each of these districts is governed by a Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, which is based on the pattern of the Darjeeling Gorkha Autonomous Hill Council. These councils were created as a compromise solution to the demands of Ladakhi people to make Leh a union territory.
There are about 1,800 km (1,100 mi) of roads in Ladakh of which 800 km (500 mi) are surfaced. The majority of roads in Ladakh are looked after by the Border Roads Organisation. Another common route in regular use was the Kalimpong route between Leh and Lhasa via Gartok, the administrative centre of western Tibet. In present times, the only two land routes to Ladakh in use are from Srinagar and Manali. There is one airport in Leh, from which there are daily flights to Delhi on Jet Airways, Air Deccan, and Air India and weekly flights to Srinagar and Jammu. There are two airstrips at Daulat Beg Oldie and Fukche for military transport.
Source: Wikipedia
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