Lamayuru called the Moonland of Ladakh is a village between Leh and Kargil. Beautiful natural moon like carvings on the mountains gives a sense of  Lunar territory. Locals say this area was once a lake and dried up later on. Lamayuru is home to one of the oldest monasteries in Ladakh, dating back to the 10th century. The monastery is situated at a height of 3,510 meters.

We always wanted to explore different cultures and have a feel of what people are up to in a new land. When we visited Lamayuru had an opportunity to attend a Ladakhi wedding. We were there at the monastery and i could see people in local Ladakhi attire Dancing in a group. Quickly asked our driver, can you please take us there? He said it was a wedding and he can take us there!

View of wedding hall from Monastery

Moment we entered the wedding hall, people gave us a warm welcome. They asked what we would like to have butter tea, chaang(local beverage made of rice) or something else? We decided to taste all them and in fact those were very tasty 🙂

Ladakhi wedding is almost similar to any other Indian arranged marriages, were boy’s family take the initiative and ask for the acceptance from brides family. On acceptance Lama ji is consulted to fix up a date for wedding, Generally the ceremony starts in the evening with locals arriving with rice, butter, sugar and other stuff needed for the wedding feast. Then people dance together in local attire and officially bride and bride groom will be made to meet each other and share their meal. The ceremony goes on till morning with dance and music continuing till  the next day. Interesting part about a custom is if the bride doesn’t have a brother then groom will move to bride’s place. As a symbol of them getting married a sacred thread gets tied by the couple.

After the ceremony  was over we were invited for a full course meal. They served us with methi Raitha along with bread, rice, tofu curry and keer for dessert. After lunch they also invited us to dance with them and also took photographs with the important people in the wedding.

This made our day and the experience gained was one of the happiest moments of our Ladakh visit.