Ethnic Mamani Festival Observed at Historical Village Steyangkung in Barsoo Kargil

Ethnic Mamani Festival Observed at Historical Village Steyangkung in Barsoo Kargil

More than 25 Different Dishes and Traditional Artifacts displayed on this Occasion

KARGIL 21 JANUARY:

In Ladakh, the annual Ethnic Mamani Festival was organized by Himalayan Cultural Heritage Foundation (HCHF) in collaboration with village communities and youth associations in the Kargil district of Ladakh for last several years.

This year the Mamani festival is being organized in the historical village of Steyangkung, Barsoo Kargil in collaboration with village Nyarpa committee and in collaboration with Awaz the Voice, Muntazir Enterprises Kargil, Zee Enterprises Kargil, Shotopa Traders and Heritage Trials Ladakh.

The Steyangkung village is around 500 years old and still well-preserved till now and being developed as one of the well-maintain heritage village in Ladakh.

On this occasion KVK Kargil Principal Scientist Dr Ghulam Mehdi was the chief guest and Programme Executive AIR Kargil Annendra Singh Guest of Honour and Major Dr Raja C was the special Guest.

Other presents include Famous Dentist Dr Nawaz Ali, Gynecologist Dr Nasreen Fatima, and many other guest and thousands of People from nearby villages.

The history of the celebration of Mamani Festival in Ladakh goes back to the ancient tradition of giving food to departed family members. During Mamani, people would exchange food with their relatives and neighbors and worship a variety of spirits (Lha).

The best traditional food stalls have been given cash prizes by HCHF in order to motivate the participants. It was encouraging to see that many VIPs attended the events to support the villagers’ efforts to revive this significant traditional festival.

During the event 6 groups of 4 families each of the village presented different verities of Dishes and around 25 different dishes like, Kung, Kapchey, hRchab, Popot, Gangtur, Prapoo, tSamik, Gruma etc and some 8 varieties of Herbal Products along with display of Traditional Equipments, Utensils, Agriculture Goods as well as a Stall by Local Youths who have started a Museum at the village.

Himalayan Cultural Heritage Foundation Presented 3 Certificates for 3 different Persons for their outstanding Contribution in different fields. This year the certificate was presented to Haji Ghulam Mohammad Styangkung and Mohd Ibrahim (Garba) for their contribution in preservation and promotion of Cultural heritage and Ahmad Hussain Ambulance Driver BHR&C for his voluntary service to save precious Life in Ladakh.

One of the villagers Haji Ghulam Mohd while talking to media expressed his joy and happiness for making the age old tradition of Mamani in a systemic way to celebrate as a festival.

He further said that this will add to the importance of this historical village and hoped that in future will attract tourist towards the Area.