Families gather in the Mani Pa ceremony held in a farmyard in Zara, a nomads location in Ladakh.

Kharnak Nomads
Chile   www.ronaldpatrick.com

In Ladakh, India, nearly 5,000m above sea level, lives a Buddhist Kharnak community of 16 nomadic families. They work closely together to look after their livestock; animals and families rely on each other to survive. Life is hard in these high plains and nomadic tradition is starting to disappear; it is probably the last generation of nomads in this area. The time will come when the villages are abandoned forever, along with their traditions.