Sankoo

Sankoo is a town in the Kargil district of the union territory of Ladakh in India. The township is 42 km away towards south from Kargil City. Sankoo is located in a bowl-shaped valley drained by large tributary streams of the Suru River, and the Nakpochu river. As the richest flourishing and most verdant valley throughout the entire region of Ladakh, the village of Sankoo Valley is known as the Ladakh's own Gulmarg ("meadow of flowers"). It is located in the Sankoo tehsil.[2]

Sankoo
Village
A lush green barley field at Kausar, Sankoo
Sankoo
Sankoo
Coordinates: 34.28°N 75.94°E / 34.28; 75.94
Country India
Union TerritoryLadakh
DistrictKargil
TehsilSankoo
Languages
 • OfficialBalti, Purgi, Urdu
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN
194301[1]

Administration

For the large population, there is only one CHC hospital and One Higher secondary school (Aga Syed Haider Rizvi Memorial Higher Secondary School). Some of the famous Villages of Sankoo are Sangra, Stakpa, Umba, Lankarchay, Thasgam, Barso, Farona and Nagma Kousar.

Demand for new district

In February 2020, organised by various youth, religious and several political parties, nearly 3,000 people protested for the creation of a new 14,000 sq-km Muslim majority district of Sankoo out of Kargil because it remains cut off from the Kargil and rest of India during winter snowfall.[3] It had 40,000 or more than 25% population of Kargil district in 2011.[3]

Climate

Summers are warm in Sankoo but the winters are extremely cold and harsh. Temperatures are most comfortable in April and September, so this is the best time to visit Sankoo.[4]

Geography

Sankoo is a developing township with a small bazaar (42 km south of Kargil) and numerous villages around. Dense plantations of poplars, willows, myricaria and wild roses fill the bowl-shaped valley, giving it the ambience of a man-made forest tucked within the mountain ramparts. Two side valleys drained by large tributary streams of the Suru river, the Kartse flowing from the east and the Nakpochu descending from the west, open up on either side of the expanse. Sankoo (42 km), the next major expanse of the Suru Valley, is a picturesque township surrounded with numerous villages and colourful rocky mountains all around.

Tourism

Sankoo is very popular among local picnickers who throng the area from Kargil town and other places. Locally it is also popular as a place of pilgrimage to the ancient shrine of a Muslim scholar-saint, Sayed Mir Hashim, who was specially invited from Kashmir for imparting religious teachings of the region's Buddhist ruler, Thi-Namgyal of the Suru principality, following his conversion to Islam during the `16th century. The shrine is situated in the village of Karpo-Kharon the outskirts of Sankoo where the Chief had his summer palace.[5]

See also

References
  1. "Sankoo (Google Maps)". Google Maps. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  2. https://kargil.nic.in/revenue-villages/
  3. 3,000 Demonstrate for Separate District in Sub-Zero Temperatures at Kargil, The Wire, 06/FEB/2020.
  4. http://www.nativeplanet.com/sankoo/ retrieved on 18 Feb 2015
  5. Sankoo in Ladakh - Tourist Places, Leh Travel, Village Tour, Culture, Travel Attraction, Trekking, Mountaineering, Tourist Information Centre India
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