Whoever drives up from Srinagar and turns south-east into the Indus Valley at Khalatse to cover the last 97 kilometres to Leh will increasingly see the most peculiar headgear a woman can wear - the ‘perak’.
The story could begin with ‘Once upon a time’. For a king of Ladakh once married the daughter of a prince ruling in a distant land, and she brought a perak with her, which the women of Ladakh immediately began to copy. Since then, this hat has not only been pretty, it also symbolises good origins and prosperity. If you want to buy one in Leh today, you have to invest up to 20,000 marks.
A perak consists of a long piece of leather that can reach over the hips at the back and tapers to a point. It also ends in a point in front of the forehead and is said to represent a snake. The two ‘ears’ made of lambskin fit this claim quite well, because from the front the perak really does look a bit like the head of an irritated cobra.
The leather is covered with red cloth on which generations of women have collected raw turquoise (per is the old word for turquoise). The front of the perak usually ends in a particularly impressive stone or gold ornament. A carnelian is attached to the crown of valuable pieces, and silver and gold amulet boxes can be sewn onto the back.
Originally, the fur ears were not intended, but - so the legend goes - a queen of Ladakh got an earache and sewed them on. Of course, the court ladies had to go along with the new fashion and eventually they stuck to it. This opened up a new way of wearing
This opened up a new way of wearing the hair: it was gathered in small plaits which the women sewed onto each other's fur ears.
On the left side of the perak, starting just above the shoulder, a silver ornament stands out crosswise, from which several rows of red coral begin. On the right side, more silver boxes, coins and jewellery dangle in the hair, which can be found on both sides of some women.
In the countryside, only one or two rows of turquoise are usually worn, while the women's peraks in Leh have become so heavy that sometimes a wide black band passes under the armpits and carries the headdress. The widow of the last king owns a magnificent piece almost half a metre wide, studded with 450 turquoises.
The centre part is removed for sleeping, but the two ‘ears’ remain attached as the hair is sewn to them. They are only removed to wash the head.
Girls used to start collecting turquoise at the age of five or six and filled the empty spaces with cowries, which married women were not allowed to wear. Back then, a perak was considered a dowry, the savings were invested in it and the stones could be sold by a widow to finance her livelihood.
The peraks you see in Ladakh today are almost all heirlooms. The mothers have to give them to their eldest daughter at her wedding and make do with a smaller one that they have made for themselves on the side. The custom of using sable instead of lambskin for the ‘ears’ has gone out of fashion for financial reasons - and for political reasons: the skins used to be imported from Jarkand, which is now in East Turkestan, China. Only the Queen still wears a sable perak (which she inherited)..........’
Source: http://members.chello.at/manfred.schmucker/GEO_P.htm
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