Kaza, also spelled Kaze, Karze, Karzey, is a town and the subdivisional headquarters of the remote

Spiti Valley Spiti (pronounced as piti in Bhoti language) is a high-altitude region of the Himalayas, located in the north-eastern part of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The name "Spiti" means "The middle land", i.e. the land between Tib ...

in the western

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

in the

Lahaul and Spiti district The Lahaul and Spiti district is a high-altitude district in Himachal Pradesh, north India. This entirely mountainous district consists of two geographically distinct as well as formerly separate political-administrative units, called Lahaul ( ...

of the northern

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

state of

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

. Spiti is a high altitude or cold desert having close similarities to the neighbouring

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

and

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory and constitutes an eastern portion of the larger Kashmir region that has been the subject of a Kashmir#Kashmir dispute, dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 and India an ...

regions in terms of terrain, climate and the Buddhist culture. Kaza, situated along the

Spiti River Spiti (pronounced as piti in Bhoti language) is a high-altitude region of the Himalayas, located in the north-eastern part of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The name "Spiti" means "The middle land", i.e. the land between Tib ...

at an elevation of above mean sea level, is the largest township and commercial center of the Spiti valley.

Description

The town is divided into the old, as Kaza'' Khas'' and new as Kaza ''Soma'' sections. The new town contains the administrative buildings. Approaching Kaza from the south, one sees Kyu-ling (''Skyid-gling''), the stately palace of the Nono (king) on the other side of the river. The Tangyud (Tang-rGyud) Gompa of village Komik dates to the early 14th century and is built like a fortified castle with massive slanted mud walls and battlements with vertical red ochre and white vertical stripes. It is on the edge of a deep canyon and overlooking the town of Kaza, 4 km from the town. Kaza hosts a branch of the Tangyud Gompa.

Access

Kaza is overlooked by high mountain ridges on the NE and SW sides. The

runs from NW to SE past Kaza. Kaza has two access routes: one from Kinnaur valley and the other from the Lahaul valley. The route via NH 505 through

Kinnaur Kinnaur district () is a mountainous district located in the northeast part of the state of Himachal Pradesh, India. Kinnaur district borders Tibet (China) to the east, the state of Uttarakhand to the south, Shimla district to the southwest, Ku ...

is open throughout the year, except for occasional short periods resulting from landslides or heavy snowfall. This road, starting from

Shimla Shimla, also known as Simla ( the official name until 1972), is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summer capital of British India. After independence, the city ...

, follows the

Sutlej The Sutlej River or the Satluj River is a major river in Asia, flowing through China, India and Pakistan, and is the longest of the five major rivers of the Punjab region. It is also known as ''Satadru''; and is the easternmost tributary of t ...

river unto a little beyond Poo, thereafter turning northwards to follow the Spiti river all the way to Kaza. The other road starts from Manali and after crossing the high

Rohtang Pass Rohtang Pass (Rohtang , literally meaning "pile of corpses"Polgreen, Lydia. ''New York Times''. Accessed 31 July 2010.) is a high mountain pass (elevation ) on the eastern end of the Pir Panjal Range of the Himalayas around from Manali, Himac ...

to reach Gramphoo where it joins the road from Keylong and proceeds south along Chandra River till Batal then climbs up to cross the high

Kunzum Pass Kunzum Pass ( Tibetan: Kunzum La, elev. ), is a high mountain pass in the eastern Kunzum Range of the Himalayas. It connects Lahaul valley and Spiti valley. It is on the route from Gramphoo in Lahaul to Kaza the subdivisional headquarters of S ...

, enters the Spiti valley to reach Kaza. It remains closed during winter months, normally from October to June due to heavy snowfall on both those passes. Kaza is one of the coldest towns in India. The temperature varies greatly in different seasons as well as within a day. January is the coldest month of the year with a minimum temperature of , while July is the hottest month with an average temperature of , although summer nights may still fall to freezing.

Festivals and tourism

Sightseeing

Kaza is known for its colorful festivals and the ruins of the ancient

Sakya The ''Sakya'' (, 'pale earth') school is one of four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the others being the Nyingma, Kagyu, and Gelug. It is one of the Red Hat Orders along with the Nyingma and Kagyu. Origins Virūpa, 16th century. It depict ...

Tangyud Monastery, located near village Komik, from Kaza. It is also popular with tourists and adventure seekers during the period of June, July and August and September because of its central location and connections to the rest of the valley (Connects to Leh-Manali Highway via

). This central location also makes Kaza an ideal base camp for trekking, mountaineering, and tours directed to other parts of the valley. The highest post office in the world at Hikkim village (PIN 172114) at an elevation of is situated from Kaza. It sends postal letters to and receives postal articles from Kaza post office.

Festivals

The prominent festivals celebrated in Kaza are Ladarcha (mid-August), Spiti Losar (around November), and Dachang (around February). The Ladarcha fair is the largest annual event in all of Spiti. In earlier times, it used to be a multi-day trade fair held annually in July at the Ladarcha ground near Chichim village in upper Spiti. It used to witness

barter trade In trade, barter (derived from ''bareter'') is a system of exchange in which participants in a transaction directly exchange goods or services for other goods or services without using a medium of exchange, such as money. Economists usual ...

among locals of Spiti and traders from Ladakh, Bushahr princely state, Tibet, and Kullu. The old trade fair ended following the

Sino-Indian war of 1962 The Sino–Indian War, also known as the China–India War or the Indo–China War, was an armed conflict between China and India that took place from October to November 1962. It was a military escalation of the Sino–Indian border dispu ...

. The fair was revived by the Himachal Pradesh government in the 1980s. The location of the revived fair, now primarily a cultural event, was shifted from the Ladarcha ground near Chichim to Kaza. In recent decades, the Ladarcha fair has been held every year in August, typically in its third week, right after

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event memorialization, commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or Sovereign state, statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or after the end of a milit ...

Monasteries

Sakya Tangyud monastery; built in the year 2009, Sakya Tangyud monastery is situated in Kaza town of Spiti Valley. Key (Ki) Monastery was built by Dromton, a student of the renowned instructor, Atisha, in the eleventh century and is located at a height of about north of Kaza town.

Facilities

In 2022, the Himachal Pradesh government constructed an indoor gym at a cost of Rs. 10 lakhs (1 million). With development of the region over the past few years, local residents get less physical activity. They report that lifestyle diseases such as heart diseases, blood pressure and diabetes have made an appearance. The gym is expected to provide an alternative over addition to gadgets and drugs for the youth. Tourists may also use the gym to adapt to high-altitude. The gym is said to be the highest in the world, though this is yet to be verified. The only petrol bunk in Spiti is located in Kaza. The town has a Community Health Centre and a Police Station. Mobile internet services are provided by

BSNL Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (commonly known as BSNL) () is an Indian central public sector undertaking, under the ownership of Department of Telecommunications, which is part of the Ministry of Communications, Government of India with its he ...

, Airtel 4G and Jio 4G.

Rangrik airbase

The

Indian Military The Indian Armed Forces are the armed forces, military forces of the India, Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force.—— Additionally, the Indian Ar ...

is constructing an airbase at Rangrik (7 km northwest of Kaza & 100 km west of Kaurik on

LAC Lac may refer to: Places Africa * Lac Region, a district in Chad * Lac Prefecture, a district in Chad America * Rivière du Lac, a tributary of the Montmorency River, in Capitale-Nationale, Quebec, Canada Europe * Laç, a city in Albania * Lac ...

) in

Spiti valley Spiti (pronounced as piti in Bhoti language) is a high-altitude region of the Himalayas, located in the north-eastern part of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The name "Spiti" means "The middle land", i.e. the land between Tib ...

which will also cater for the civilian flights. It was announced in the January 2023, and it will be completed by end of 2024. To counter China, Nyoma airfield in Ladakh to be full-fledged base in 2 years
, The Tribune, 5 Jan 2023.

Highways

'' Hanle-Kaza-Tabo Road'' is being construction by the BRO under

Indo-China Border Roads Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

(ICBR) scheme. NH505 connects Kaza to Manali in southwest, and Kaurik, Sumdo,

Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh (also known as Edward Bear, Pooh Bear or simply Pooh) is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. Winnie-the-Pooh first appeared by ...

& Tabo in east. Kaza-Pooh-Tabo-

route is open whole year, but the Manali-Kaza route is closed for 7 winter months every year during which

(15,000 ft) is closed.

NHAI The National Highways Authority of India or NHAI () is an autonomous agency of the Government of India, set up in 1995 (Act 1988) and is responsible for management of a road network of over 50,000 km of National highways out of 1,32,499 ...

is planning to construct a tunnel under the Kunzum Pass to provide all-weather connectivity between Manali and Spiti valley.Rs 200 cr for Sumdoh-Gramphu road
, The Tribune, 14 June 2020.

References

Bibliography

*Ciliberto, Jonathan. (2013)
"Six Weeks in the Spiti Valley"
Circle B Press. 2013. Atlanta. *Francke, A. H. (1914, 1926). ''Antiquities of Indian Tibet''. Two Volumes. Calcutta. 1972 reprint: S. Chand, New Delhi. *Handa, O. C. (1987). ''Buddhist Monasteries in Himachal Pradesh''. Indus Publishing Company, New Delhi. . *Kapadia, Harish. (1999). ''Spiti: Adventures in the Trans-Himalaya''. Second Edition. (1st edition 1996). Indus Publishing Company, New Delhi. .

External links

*
Parasol Retreat KAZAKaza:A complete travel guide
{{Lahaul and Spiti Cities and towns in Lahaul and Spiti district Lahaul and Spiti district