What occurs when mud, water, straw, and cow dung come collectively?

In Keylong village, Himachal Pradesh, they kind an 80-year-old residence — a sustainable construction perched on the shoulders of the Himalayan vary.

Deserted for almost a decade, the home discovered new life when 32-year-old native youth, Tanzin Bodh, noticed its potential. He remodeled it right into a homestay, managed by native households, providing friends an genuine Himachali expertise.

‘Zomsa’, because the homestay known as, is considered one of three ventures Tanzin has arrange in Keylong. The others embody ‘Lahol’ — an initiative to protect Himachal’s tradition, and ‘Garsha Looms’ — which creates a market for handwoven artisanal merchandise.

The restoration of the 80-year-old architectural heirloom was led by native girls. By a sequence of workshops, younger folks have been additionally skilled to plaster the stone facade with the sustainable combine.

 

Elaborating on the elements that wanted restoration, Tanzin shares, “Round 50 % of the house was broken. There was leakage, and the interiors wanted to be performed. We used Juniper wooden for the restoration of the interiors, and for the partitions, we used mud from the world.”

The selection of mud had its perks — it was free from small stones, rendering it a tender texture that allowed it to undergo the water, straw and cowdung combine.

 

 

For the ladies of Keylong, partaking within the undertaking was like taking a stroll down reminiscence lane to an easier time when such mud properties dotted the Himachali panorama.

One of many girls, Angmo, is especially harking back to these occasions. “Restoration is vital as a result of it’s like reviving outdated traditions. These traditions stay on in reminiscence. We would transfer forward with the occasions, however we shouldn’t overlook the outdated.”

Right this moment, Zomsa’s whitewashed partitions gleam within the daylight. Its primal textures merge with the panorama.

 

 

Tanzin sees the homestay as an integral piece of the cultural jigsaw that wanted salvaging. When he returned to Keylong in 2019 from Ladakh, the place he was pursuing a grasp’s in entrepreneurship, he remarked how his village had modified.

 

“Increasingly more youth have been migrating to cities. The farmers have been leaving their fields, folks from different elements of India have been eager on taking up. Mud properties began disappearing; the truth is, the one we now have restored is without doubt one of the previous couple of remaining,” he shares. 

As soon as successful story within the eyes of tradition, Lahaul was slowly shedding contact with its roots. And Tanzin knew he needed to act shortly.

Reviving a cultural handiwork and empowering the locals

Knitting and weaving are deeply rooted within the tradition of Lahaul. The story of the area’s iconic socks, crafted from indigenous sheep wool, is as intricate as their patterns. Making them calls for each precision and talent — 4 double-pointed needles are used to knit every pair, starting with the cuff, adopted by the leg, and eventually the heel.

Their primary draw is the eye-catching patterns; credit score goes to the ‘dashi’ sample, which includes eight kinds of motifs, akin to lari, bumchang, yunglung, kuru, thigma and kyog. The dashi are specified by rows in numerous colors. It’s a coming collectively of magnificence and ingenuity.

 

In 2021, in an extra bid to protect the artistic integrity of the craft, the hand-knitted socks and gloves of Lahaul and Spiti have been awarded the GI tag. An area NGO ‘Save Lahaul-Spiti Society’ was granted the standing of registered proprietor of the tag.

The society’s president, Prem Chand Katoch, attributes the rising success of weaving and knitting in Lahaul to the late 1800s, when Moravian Missionaries started arriving within the area. The story goes that considered one of their wives, Maria Heyde, arrange the primary organised knitting college in Keylong, encouraging girls to hone their knitting abilities, reimagine indigenous motifs, and produce their creations to the market.

Now, by way of Garsha Looms, Tanzin is pushing for a renaissance of this craft kind.

 

Sanjeeta, one of many girls who has been working on the looms for 4 years, calls this affiliation a validation of her artistic abilities. “Earlier, we have been knitting the socks in our homes for our households, as items. Now, we really feel like we are able to use our conventional data of knitting to earn for ourselves and our households.”

Sanjeeta, like lots of the girls, by no means had a enterprise thought on the playing cards, however a dialog with Tanzin modified this. “He informed us that we’re succesful and that if we have been making one thing that might protect our heritage and take it forward, we must always earn a good value for it,” she shares.

For Sanjeeta Katoch, self-confidence is the principle takeaway from this affiliation. Tanzin, in the meantime, sees it as a mode of future-proofing their cultural heritage from disappearing altogether. At the moment, 30 girls are being empowered by way of Garsha Looms. 

 

The third pillar in Zomsa Tradition Hub is Lahol, which goals to preserve and promote Lahaul’s cultural heritage, crafts, and traditions — whereas creating livelihood alternatives for girls, youth, and farmers, and selling natural and sustainable practices in agriculture and tourism.

 

The best way Tanzin sees it, these ventures are a silent rebuttal to a cultural shift that’s threatening the Himachali panorama.

In your journey to Keylong, you’ll be able to discover the varied methods through which Tanzin is making this doable. When you’re by way of with it, change pleasantries with the land by the use of visiting the varied iconic spots.

These embody the Kardang Monastery, one of the crucial distinguished monasteries within the Lahaul area, which dates again to the twelfth century and homes historical murals and an unlimited assortment of Buddhist scriptures. Then there’s the Keylong Bazaar, the place essentially the most lovely keepsakes and scrumptious meals can be found on a shoestring funds. Make a day journey to the Khardang village surrounded by apple orchards, barley fields, and snow-capped peaks.

On the coronary heart of all of it is an easy story unfolding in Keylong — one that’s formed by the locals’ intent to hug their tradition earlier than it walks into oblivion.

All footage courtesy Tanzin Bodh

Sources

‘Lahauli hand-knit socks, gloves given Geographical Indication standing’ by The Tribune, Printed on 6 November 2021.

‘The Moravians’ by Asia Harvest.