Ladam: 1 definition

Introduction:

Ladam means something in the history of ancient India. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or English translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. Add your comment or reference to a book if you want to contribute to this summary article.

India history and geography

Source: Mandala Texts: Ridam/Ladam: Closing Mountains to Human Activity

Ladam (ལ་བསྡམ་) or Ridam (རི་བསྡམ་) is a practice of mountain closure which is known in many parts of Bhutan. The entire area or a certain part of the mountain is closed to human entry and use during certain periods, often from spring to autumn. During this period, people are generally not allowed to enter the area for the purpose of collecting natural resources or visiting a place within that area. The restriction is particularly applied to outsiders who are not from the area.

The ridam/ladam practice is deeply rooted in the Bhutanese spiritual worldview of seeing the surrounding environment as a living force. In the Pre-Buddhist belief system, natural surrounding including mountains, cliffs, forests, lakes and rivers were seen as formidable sites which embodied natural forces or are abodes of invisible forces of nature. Mountains are identified with mountain gods, forests as homes of territorial deities, cliffs as citadels of spirits, rivers as residences of water spirits, and so forth. These spirits came in many kinds such as nedag (གནས་བདག་) zhidag (གཞི་བདག་), pholha (ཕོ་ལྷ་), yullha (ཡུལ་ལྷ་), dud (བདུད་), tsen (བཙན་), gyalpo (རྒྱལ་པོ་), lu (ཀླུ་) etc. and they sometimes communicated with the people through shamans and oracles such as pawo (དཔའ་བོ་), pamo (དཔའ་མོ་), terdag (གཏེར་བདག་) and naljorm (རྣལ་འབྱོརམ་).

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The history of India traces the identification of countries, villages, towns and other regions of India, as well as mythology, zoology, royal dynasties, rulers, tribes, local festivities and traditions and regional languages. Ancient India enjoyed religious freedom and encourages the path of Dharma, a concept common to Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism.

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