Rupshu is a high elevation plateau and valley and an

eponymous An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

community development block In India, a community development block (CD block) or simply Block is a sub-division of District, administratively earmarked for planning and development. In tribal areas, similar sub-divisions are called tribal development blocks (TD blocks). T ...

in southeast

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 ...

. It is between the Startsapuk Tso and

Tso Moriri Tso Moriri or Lake Moriri , () or "Mountain Lake", is a pristine high-altitude lake and a Ramsar Wetland Site in the remote Changthang Plateau (literally: northern plains) in Leh district of the union territory of Ladakh in India. As the la ...

, and west of Mahe. The Salt Valley and the Puga Valley to its north are also part of the bigger Rupshu area.Home Puga Valley: The Geothermal Wonder of Ladakh With 6 Tips For Travelling
accessed 5 Feb 2025. The Chumar area disputed by India-China in south-eastern Ladakh lies in Rupshu block, south of the

lake, on the bank of the Parang River (or ''Pare Chu''), close to Ladakh's border with Tibet.Panchayat Data
Government of Jammu and Kashmir, 2017. Accessed on 12 October 2020.

Geography

Frederic Drew describes the Rupshu valley as follows: Drew states that the valleys of Rupshu continue beyond the Tso Kar lake until the

lake (), and also extend to the east to cover the valley of Hanle (). At its narrowest definition, the Rupshu valley ranges from 20 km northwest of

to 50 km northwest. The elevation of that valley is between and . It is inhabited by the

Changpa The Changpa, or Champa, are a semi-nomadic Tibetan people found mainly in the Changtang in Ladakh, India. A smaller number resides in the western regions of the Tibet Autonomous Region and were partially relocated for the establishment of t ...

nomads and contains the Tso Kar salt lake. More widely, the term "Rupshu" is used for a wider area, ranging from the Manali-Leh Highway region to the west to east of Tso Moriri, incorporating some of the Ladakhi portion of the Changthang Plateau area in which Tso Moriri is found. North of Rupshu area is the

Indus River The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayas, Himalayan river of South Asia, South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in the Western Tibet region of China, flows northw ...

Valley. The subsection of the Indus River Valley from Mahe to Upshi is called the Rong Valley (not to be confused with the Wakha Rong River Valley in Kargil district). The Rong Valley section is a deep gorge, and the word 'rong' means 'the gorge' in Ladakhi language. The group of four villages within the Rong Valley with the tourist homestays has the highest concentration of the

snow leopard The snow leopard (''Panthera uncia'') is a species of large cat in the genus ''Panthera'' of the family Felidae. The species is native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because ...

, Liktsey (70 km SE of Leh) famous for carpet weaving, Tukla (72 km SE of Leh) famous for monastery and Asiatic ibexibex, Hemya (80 km SE of Leh and 10 km from Liktsey) famous for basket-making, and Kesar (135 km SE of Leh).Rong Valley Treking
accessed 5 Feb 2025.

Transport

Rupshu is reachable by road from Mahe and Karzok. Hanle-Kaza-Tabo Road (HKT Road), being constructed 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, will provide additional access to mainland India.

References

Bibliography

External links

A travel article about Rupshu region by Rangan Datta
published in ''The Statesman'', 16 June 2004. Geography of Ladakh {{Ladakh-geo-stub

Geography

Transport

See also

References

Bibliography

External links