Kargil Apricot Wheat Shia Muslim Suru Valley Ladakh Heritage

Kargil district in Ladakh occupies the Suru river valley and the mountains between Kashmir and Leh. Predominantly Shia Muslim (unique in India's Himalayan belt), Kargil's communities cultivate apricots, wheat, barley, and vegetables on the terraced fields of the Suru and Drass valleys using traditional glacial irrigation channels (kuls). Kargil district contains Drass — the world's second coldest inhabited place (regularly -40°C in winter) — and the Kargil War memorial at Dras commemorating the 1999 Kargil conflict. The Zanskar Valley (sub-division of Kargil) — accessible only 4 months of year by road (or via the Chadar frozen river trek in winter) — is one of the most remote inhabited valleys in Asia with a distinct Tibetan Buddhist community and village economy of wheat, barley, and yak-based pastoralism.