Why Are Pashmina Shawls Famous In Ladakh?

By Author: doortothehimalayas
Total Articles: 4
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Ladakh is part of Kashmir in India’s northernmost region which borders on Tibet and it is along this disputed and militarised border that the herds people have for centuries reared the famous Pashmina goat, known locally as the Lena Rama goat, Changra, or northern goat. The Chantang area of Ladakh is a barren, arid high altitude landscape which provides extreme temperature drops during the winter when it can reach as low as -40 degrees Celsius, it is in this harsh environment 17,000 ft above sea level that the pastoral herds people known as Ladakhi Changpa live in yak hair tents year round and move their yaks, goats, camels and horses from pasture to pasture. The Changpa are followers of Tibetan Buddhism and believe their livestock to be sacred animals given to them by the gods and therefore they take great care of their animals.
What is so special about the goats in Ladakh?
The Lena Rama, or Pashmina goat is renowned the world over for producing fine goat hair on its under belly which when combed twice a year provides fine fibres which have for centuries been traded in the Chantang area across borders and along ...
... mountain passes traversing between Tibet and Kashmir, the Nomadic tribal people would travel by foot and mule to trade in Leh and Srinagar where they supply the Kashmir shawl industry. A male goat can produce between 300g and 500g of pashm, whereas a female goat produces between 200g and 250g and the natural colour is white, grey or brown.The fibres are incredibly fine, one third finer than cashmere and they are hollow with the lanolin being contained within rather than on the surface of the fibre. Pashmina from the under belly of the Lena Rama goat is a short fibre and therefore it takes incredible skill to be hand spun into threads ready for weaving. The spinning of pashmina is mainly done by women in Srinagar and Ladakh has traditionally not been involved in any of the value-added stages of pashmina processing and production.
Processing of Raw Pashmina

Processing of the raw pashmina has in the past always been done in Kashmir, because the quality of production was far better than that being done in Leh however in 2004 a production centre was opened in Leh by the All Changthang Pashmina Growers Cooperative Marketing Society to process raw fibre for sale in Srinagar as well as to promote weaving of pashmina by local weavers in Ladakh. The quality of pashmina processed in Leh has not met up to the high standards required by the weavers in Srinagar who make the very finest pashmina shawls but has been popular with weavers in the Punjab as well as with the local Ladakhi weavers.

The Stages of Processing
1.Hand pick out of the raw fibre the mixed in coarse hair from the outer coat of the goat, this has to be done painstakingly one hair at a time.

2.Natural oils and impurities are removed by the rubbing of fine, slightly damp rice flour through small pads of fibre.

3.Fibres are straightened by running through a comb.
In conclusion, Ladakh is famous for its Pashmina and why Kashmir is famous for producing the finest shawls in the world. For more information please visit www.doortothehimalayas.co.uk