Sindhu Ghat is in Leh and is 10 kms ahead the upstream Indus River near Shrey. It is one of the most peaceful river banks. Indus River or the Sindhu River initiates close to Mansarovar Lake and Mt Kailash in Tibet and then enters India and enters Pakistan by flowing through the Leh Valley. In Sanskrit, Sindhu denotes a ‘large water body’ and this river is one of the most important rivers in the history of India. Our country - India is named after this river and the people residing in this country are proudly known as Hindus which comes from the name Sindhu in Arab. This river is a sacred river out of the seven mentioned in the history of India.

A very famous festival known as the Sindhu Darshan festival is organized in Leh and Ladakh. It is a good three-day long festival and is also flocked by many people during these three days. This is the best time for anyone to visit Leh and Ladakh to experience the beauty and the culture of this paradise on earth. The Ghat is at a distance of 8 km from Leh in Shey Manla and is visited by people for darshan and pooja during this festival. This festival is also marked to salute those brave souls that fought for the mother Land, facing all the odds just to protect India in Kargil, Siachen and other wars that have been taken till date.

This river bank also known as the Sindhu Ghat is one of the peaceful locations which lie in this strange scenery of Ladakh. The beautiful and the tranquil river and the brown barren mountains, the wet sand and the stone and the lush green trees are just apt for a poster picture. One can visit the Sindhu Ghat and Shey Palace and Stok Village together due to its close proximity to Leh.

Leh was visited by Lal Krishna Adwani in 1995 who was the then Dy. Prime Minister and started a Sindhi’s worship Indus festival named as the Sindhu Darshan Abhiyan. It was first time organized in 1997 and has now become a regular affair and a dream for many to attend it. This festival was renamed as Ladakh Singhey Khabab Spring Festival to involve more of locals and also inculcate the authentic Ladakhi flavor in the celebrations. Christian Moravian Church, Shia Majlis, Sunni Anjuman, Hindu Trust, Sikh Gurudwara Prabhandak Committee and Joint association of Ladakh Buddhist Association jointly organize this festival. Fifty elder and senior lamas do prayers and rituals at the banks of the river as a part of this festival.

Best Time to Visit

Leh is considered as the desert in the mountains having real long and very ‘difficult to bear’ winters from the commencement of October till the initial March, the temperature even dips below the freezing point most of the times in winters. Also, snowfall can be witnessed at times during the winter season. The leftover months in the year are comparatively fine and warm in the day time. The rainfall in this paradise is recorded very less and is only 102 mm. The temperature in winter even goes down till -28 degree Celsius till 33 degrees during summers.

How to Reach

Two high altitude roads connect Leh to the rest of the India and are subjected to landslides. These roads are impossible to pass during winters when they covered with a thick layer of snow. The route from Srinagar via Kargil which is the National Highway 1D is open most for longer durations but passing through the Leh Manjali Highway is difficult as the high plateaus and passes are difficult to pass. Also, the landslide prone Rohtang Pass near Manali is also another route to go towards Leh.

The airport in Leh, Leh Kusok Bakula Rimpochee Airport, is well connected with a flight daily to Delhi of airlines like Jet Airways, Kingfisher and Indian Airlines which also has services to Jammu and a flight once a week to Srinagar. Many flights also operate from Delhi to Leh on a daily basis on peak tourist times. Leh does not have any railway lines but it is proposed by the authorities.

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