Ancient Rhythms and Modern Messages
Ladakhi folk music may have its roots in West Central Asia but was later influenced by South Asian traditions. Today it is still embellishing old music with new ideas.
Ladakh's Matho monastery stands on a rocky outcrop above the place where the Matho River meets the Indus. It's winter, and the monastery is packed. People squeeze together in the courtyard and on the flat rooftops, leaning over parapets to catch a glimpse. Suddenly a great roar goes up from the crowd, Ki ki so so lha ge lo, "may the Gods be victorious". Two figures emerge from the main temple, brandishing swords, leopard skins around their waists, running, running. And as they run, drums beat out an insistent rhythm like the pounding of sea surf, rising and falling. Sometimes the figures pause for a moment, screaming a prophecy for the coming year, or slashing arms and tongues with their naked blades. Flecks of blood cover the white scarves, katak, which people have offered them. These are the Gods of Matho, the Rongtsan or "spirits of the gorge". They were brought here, so the story goes, from Eastern Tibet by the founder of Matho monastery, sworn to protect Matho and Buddhism. They belong to a pre-Buddhist age of Ladakhi and Tibetan history when the Gods ruled all; Gods of the gorge, the pass, the village, the hearth.