LG RK Mathur says Ladakh is ready for a new era of development on Losar

R K Mathur, the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh greeted Ladakhis on Losar, their new year on Friday, December 27, and stated that Ladakh becoming a Union Territory (UT) gave a pathway for prosperity and development to enter the region.

The Ladakhi New Year, Losar celebrations began in the Union Territory with pompous, festivities and traditional fervour on December 27. 

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The festival will go on for three to nine days. Losar is celebrated according to the Buddhist lunar calendar in which the festival commences on the first day of the eleventh month. It is a cultural and social festival that correlates to a date in the present-day gregorian calendar.

The festival is a century-old tradition that is celebrated especially by cooking symbolic meals and offering them to Gods and Goddesses. People decorate the dining halls of the houses with lucky signs to pray for a prosperous year and timely show of snow and rain for good crops.

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The Lieutenant Governor, RK Mathur participated in the celebration program held at Ladakh’s Chowkhang Vihara. The program was organized by the Ladakh Buddhist Organisation in collaboration with the Departments of Tourism and Culture. Mathur said that Ladakh is ready for a new era with this new year while speaking on the occasion.

An official press note was retrieved by agencies and it stated Mathur as saying, "Fulfilling of the long pending demand of the people of the land in the form of UT paves a pathway for prosperity and development.”

He emphasized that to create a better future for the next generations, people should adopt working together as a team with unity.

Mathur also told agencies: “Losar marks the beginning of a new year, and with only two months old as a Union Territory, Ladakh is ready for a new era.”

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Mathur reiterated to the people of Ladakh that they come from a common history of struggling together, while also appreciating Ladakhis’ deep faith in communal harmony and the desire to give back to society what they have received.

The Lieutenant Governor added, “Everyone needs to work together in creating a better future for the coming generation. It is the right time to grab the opportunity to shape Ladakh and make it socially strong, culturally rich, economically and ecologically prosperous.”

Chuchot, Choglamsar, Heshuk, Nimoo, Basgo, and Wanla villages gave glimpses of Losar traditions and made the event colourful.

Gyal P Wangyal, the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Leh Chairman, Commissioner Rigzin Samphel and president LBA PT Kunzang were some of the attendees of the festival.

(With Inputs from ANI)