Résumés > Making salt tea and eating tsampa: The zaskari identity in motion

Jeudi 6 novembre 2025 - 11h30-12h15

Salomé DEBOOS, Professor of Anthropology, UFR Anthropology, Sociology, Political Sciences, Laboratoire d’Anthropologie des Enjeux Contemporains, Université Lumière Lyon 2.

In the Zanskar Valley, situated in the Indian Himalayas, the practice of offering salted tea to visitors is an expression of welcome, in line with the tradition of presenting tsampa to passing visitors. In the course of my preliminary fieldwork, these forms of hospitality emerged as a matter of great cultural significance.

The present-day capital of Zanskar, Padum, sits on the New Delhi - Manali - Kargil route, which has been upgraded to motorway status. This development has enabled the Indian tourism industry to flourish there, accompanied by a significant change in prevailing customs. The traditional consumption of salted tea has been superseded by chai, and tsampa has been replaced by biscuits, with the exception of instances where these offerings are employed to affirm one's identity or during ritual receptions.

This presentation will provide an opportunity to explore the places and times at which Zanskari identity is expressed, sometimes in accordance with ancestral traditions, and sometimes in accordance with modernity.