Padum

The population of Padum is about 13,459 people.[1] The traditional heart of the village is below the gompa and Palace khar (now in ruins) where two large chortens stand above old buildings. A road was constructed in 1980 from NH1, Kargil over Pensi La while the road to Darcha is yet half way through. Padum has several hotels, homestays and restaurants meant for tourists. Padum has a post office, internet cafes and telephone booths.

Padum is at the centre of the tri armed Zanskar valley.[2] It has an average elevation of 3,657 metres (11,998 feet). There are several villages to the north-east of Padum leading to Karsha monastery.

Padum is largely inhabited by people of Tibetan descent who follow Tibetan Buddhism, but there is a sizable Muslim minority (accounting for ~40% of the town's population), mainly Balti, who have been present in Padum since the 17th century.

Main Street of Padum

Padum hill (top right corner) as seen from Pibiting village

Looking south midway between Padum and Pibiting

The sub-divisional capital Padum is a town of the Zanskar sub-division or tehsil in the Kargil district of Ladakh state, India. The Zanskar River flows through the valley from its source at the Drang Drung glacier of the Pensi La.The Zanskar River joins the Lungnak River near Pibiting village.

A number of notable Buddhist monasteries are located near Padum including Bardan Monastery and Kursha Monastery and the newly built Dalai Lama Photang. The Phugtal Monastery is accessible from here. It is a day's trek from Dorzang, the end of the road leading from Padum.[3]

By Bus: The bus details here apply during the tourist season between 1 July and 15 September only, after this period the Manali-Leh NH21 highway is formally closed. The other roads including the highway from Leh to Srinagar via Kargil, remain open until the end of October. Despite heavy blizzards, the road from Leh to Nubra valley over the extremely high Khardung La is kept open throughout the year.

• Janet Rizvi. (1996). Ladakh: Crossroads of High Asia. Second Edition. Oxford University Press, Delhi. ISBN 0-19-564546-4.
• Osada et al. (2000). Mapping the Tibetan World. Yukiyasu Osada, Gavin Allwright, and Atsushi Kanamaru. Reprint: 2004. Kotan Publishing, Tokyo. ISBN 0-9701716-0-9.
• Schettler, Margaret & Rolf (1981). Kashmir, Ladakh & Zanskar. Lonely Planet Publications. South Yarra, Victoria, Australia. ISBN 0-908086-21-0.

• Photos of Padum
• Images taken at the Karsha Monastery, near Padum