Ice Stupas : The Gift of Ladakh

Necessity is the mother of Innovation..

Today’s article is about one such innovation; simple yet enormously effective all the way from the mountains of Ladakh! We will learn how simple phenomenons can produce so much more, with just a little push of efforts and a touch of science. We will look how ICE STUPAS reformed the holy land of highlanders...

What is ice stupa?

Ice Stupas are huge towers or conical structures about 30 to 50m tall made up of, yes you guessed it right, ICE. Stupas are formed by the freezing of the stream water vertically. These vertically frozen structures share resemblance with the mud structures (called Stupas) that the local Buddhist people construct and hold sacred. This resemblance is the reason behind the connection that the people establish with these ice structures and hence the name. But ice stupa is not just a spiritual monument; it is a kind of technique employed by the highlanders for glacier grafting.

Glacier Grafting or glacier growing (or artificial glaciation) is a practice usually employed in the Himalayan regions to create small new glaciers to increase water supply for crops and in some cases to sustain micro hydro power.

Significance of Stupas

Ladakhi community face acute water shortage, particularly during the two crucial months of April and May (spring time) when there is no or little water in the streams and the glaciers are still not warm enough to melt and in this time not only humans but plants & animals, all need water the most.

Being one of the world's highest altitude cold deserts in a region which receives 50 to 100 millimetres of rainfall annually, scarcity of water is a daily basis struggle that highlanders face. Ice stupa store this wasting winter water, not used by anyone, in the form of small ice mountains that melt and feed the farms during springtime forming Artificial Glaciers. These artificial glaciers hold over 15 million litres of water and about 50,000 litres melt daily solving the water problems.

How ice stupas are were made?

The melt-water from the mountains is transported in underground pipes to lower regions. Due to the difference in pressure it shoots up all by itself just like the spraying water fountain and the minus 20°C air extracts the heat from the water, forcing it to fall down, freeze and form the shape of a cone. The beauty is that you don't need any machines or pumps or electricity or fuels, which also means no pollution! It's all about gravity, simple pipes and basic science.

The idea is to conserve this tower of ice as long into the summer as possible so that as it melts, it feeds the fields in spring time, until the real glacial-melt waters start flowing in June.

As these ice towers are conical in shape and extend vertically upwards, they receive less sun rays per the volume of water stored; hence, they take much longer time to melt.

Man of a million ideas!

The man who invented this is Sonam Wangchuk (won a Rolex Award for Enterprise in 2016). It is nearly impossible to talk about innovations and new India without mentioning this name. The marvellous work that Mr. Wangchuk did, and is doing right now, is nothing short of a modern-day legend. His inventions and innovations are pocket-friendly and eco-friendly, and his spirit is just priceless. By crowd-funding, he raised $125,000, built a 64-foot-tall “ice stupa” in 2015. They also planted 5,000 saplings around the planned ice stupa, greening the valley.

Lessons from the past...

The concept of artificial glaciers is not new to Ladakh. Our ancestors used to have a process of ‘grafting glaciers' in the very high altitude locations (above 4,000m). For centuries, in the Karakoram and Himalayan mountain ranges, people have been growing glaciers as a source of drinking water and irrigation for their crops. Swiss people created their first stupa in 2016 in the Swiss Alps. There are plans for over 100 more in villages in Pakistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Now the Ladakh is attracting tourists not only for its scenic beauty but also for its marvelous ice stupas as well.

Ice Stupa: A message to all

Almost, 20% of the glaciers in the area have been lost in the last 50 years and here the future generations are vulnerable to become ‘climate refugees’ as it will be impossible to continue farming.

"Artificial glaciers are only a makeshift solution and not just a method of making water."

It is a message from the mountains to the people in big cities of the world and it is equally important that the big cities do everything to change their lifestyle and mitigate the issue of climate change.

Team Knowledge Villa hopes you learnt something new....

Please share the blog and feel free to use comment section...