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Nubra | |
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region | |
 Nubra Valley withDiskit Gompa and town immediately below andHunder in the distance | |
  Nubra Location in Ladakh, India Show map of Ladakh Nubra Nubra (India) Show map of India | |
| Coordinates:34°36′N77°42′E / 34.6°N 77.7°E /34.6; 77.7 | |
| Country |  India |
| Union Territory | Ladakh |
| District | Leh |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
Nubra, also calledDumra, is a historical region ofLadakh, India[1] that is currently administered as asubdivision and atehsil in theLeh district. Its inhabited areas form a tri-armed valley cut by theNubra andShyok rivers. Its Tibetan nameDumra means "valley of flowers".[2] Demands have been raised andBJP has hinted at creation of Nubra as a new district.[3]Diskit, the headquarters of Nubra, is 120 km north ofLeh, the capital of Ladakh.
TheShyok River meets theNubra River (or Siachan River) to form a large valley that separates theLadakh andKarakoram Ranges. The Shyok river is a tributary of the Indus river. The average altitude of the valley is more than 10,000 feet (3,000 m) above the sea level. The most common way to access this valley is to travel over theKhardung La pass from Leh.
Foreign nationals are required to get aProtected area permit to visit Nubra. Since 1 April 2017 Indian citizens are also required to get anInner Line Permit to visit it.[4][unreliable source?]
Nubra (Tibetan:ནུབ་ར,Wylie:nub ra,THL:nup ra) means "western" in Ladakhi, thus referring to the "western valley", perhaps distinguishing it from the thinly-populated eastern Shyok river valley. The traditional name of the region is Dumra (Tibetan:ལྡུམ་ར,Wylie:ldum ra,THL:dum ra), meaning "valley of flowers".[2]
Alexander Cunningham listed Nubra as one of the five natural and historical divisions of Ladakh.[5] Nubra occupies the northeastern portion of Ladakh, borderingBaltistan andChinese Turkestan in the north, and theAksai Chinplateau and Tibet in the east. In Cunningham's conception, Nubra includes all the region drained by theNubra andShyok rivers. it is 128 miles long and 72 miles wide, making up an area of 9,200 square miles. It extends south till thePangong Lake.[6]
In modern nomenclature, the Nubra region is divided into "Diskit Nubra" in the north and the "Darbuk region" in the south, both of which are regarded as tehsils and subdivisions of theLeh district.[7] The Diskit Nubra region includes theTurtuk block populated byBalti people, which became a part of Indian-administered Kashmir after theIndo-Pakistani War of 1971, and the unpopulatedSiachen Glacier region.[8]
The populated part of Nubra is often described as a "tri-armed valley",[9]the three arms being:[10]
The eastern Shyok valley is mostly unpopulated, even though it has numerous camping sites that have been used by trade caravans.Murgo is a village on the tributary called Murgo Nala.
Like the rest of theTibetan Plateau, Nubra is a high altitudecold desert with rare precipitation and scant vegetation except along river beds. The villages are irrigated and fertile, producing wheat, barley, peas, mustard and a variety of fruits and nuts, including blood apples, walnuts, apricots and even a few almond trees. Most of Nubra is inhabited by Nubra dialect or Nubra Skat speakers. The majority are Buddhists. In the western or lowest altitude end of Nubra near the Line of Control i.e. the Indo-Pak border, along theShyok River, the inhabitants ofTurtuk areBalti ofGilgit-Baltistan, who speak Balti, and areShia andSufia Nurbakhshia Muslims.
Siachen Glacier lies to the north of the valley. TheSasser Pass and the famousKarakoram Pass lie to the northwest of the valley and connect Nubra withUyghur (Mandarin :Xinjiang). Previously much trade passed through the area towards western China'sXinjiang and Central Asia. The people ofBaltistan also used the Nubra valley for passage to Tibet.[11]
Diskit town in the valley have become the congregation centre for people of the region. Diskit is the headquarters of Nubra and thus has lot of government offices with basic facilities. It is also connected by road with Leh.
Along the Nubra or Siachan River lie the villages of Sumur, Kyagar (called Tiger Village by the Indian Army),Tirith,Panamik,Turtuk and many others.
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The main road access to Nubra is overKhardung La which is open throughout the year. The highest elevation of Khardung La is 5,359 m (17,582 ft), its status as the highest motorable road in the world is no longer accepted by most authorities.[12] An alternative route, opened in 2008, crosses theWari La fromSakti, to the east of Khardung La, connecting to the main Nubra road system viaAgham andKhalsar along theShyok River. There are also trekkable passes over the Ladakh Range from the Indus Valley at various points. Routes from Nubra toBaltistan andYarkand, though historically important, have been closed since 1947 and 1950 respectively.
The Nubra valley was open for tourists up toHunder (the land of sand dunes) until 2010. The region beyond Hunder gives way to a greener region of Ladakh because of its lower altitude. The village ofTurtuk which was unseen by tourists till 2010 is a virgin destination for people who seek peace and an interaction with a tribal community of Ladakh. The localBalti people follow their age old customs in their lifestyle and speak a language which oral and not yet written. For tourists Turtuk offers serene camping sites with environment friendly infrastructure.
Panamik is noted for its hot springs. Between Hundar and Diskit lie seven kilometres of sand dunes, and (two-humped)Bactrian camels graze in the neighbouring "forests" ofseabuckthorn. Non-locals are not allowed below Hundar village into the Balti area, as it is a border area.
The 32-metreMaitreya Buddha statue is the landmark of Nubra and is maintained by theDiskit Monastery. On the Shyok River, the main village, Diskit, is home to the dramatically positioned Diskit Monastery which was built in 14th century. Hundar was the capital of the erstwhile Nubra kingdom in the 17th century, and is home to the Chamba Gompa.
Samstanling Monastery is between Kyagar and Sumoor villages. Across the Nubra or Siachan River at Panamik, is the isolated Ensa Gompa.
Yarma Gompa, betweenSaser andSiachen Base Camp, is one of the large monastery belonging to theDrukpa Kagyu lineage and it manages the following village gompas, Tong-sted, Nyung-sted, Dungsa, Khemi, Tsang-lung-ka, Sarsoma, Aarunuk, Ayi, Kovet, Tangsa & Murgo. The senior to lower hierarchy of gompa administration is Lopon, Gye-nyen, Geylong, Gye-tsul, and cun-zung.[13]
The valley is famous for its forest ofHippophae shrub, popularly known as Leh Berry. It is within this shrub forest that one can spot thewhite-browed tit-warbler. One can also spot theTibetan lark,Hume's short-toed lark, andHume's whitethroat. The various water birds likeruddy shelduck,garganey,northern pintail, andmallard can be observed on several small water bodies scattered along the route. Besides these,waders likeblack-tailed godwit,common sandpiper,common greenshank,common redshank,green sandpiper, andruff can be spotted in Nubra.[14]
The valley has been secluded as has been most of the exterior parts of Ladakh. Almost all of the region has been facing problems to get good quality education. There have been initiatives in the past by the government but extreme weather conditions and vicinity to the borders have been a major hurdle in implementing a solid education base. There is also migration of the population that gets exposed to the big cities of India and hence the people do not get benefitted out of their local learned population. There are very few Non-Government organizations active in Nubra region.
Nubra valley was appeared, mentioned in Hollywood movieMission Impossible : Fallout ofTom Cruise. In the film's climax Ethan Hunt (Cruise) stop Walker (Henry Cavill) from detonatingPlutonium bomb at the base ofSiachen glacier . However filming of the scene was done in New Zealand due to India government denied filming.[15]
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