Rinchen Shah Center for West Himalayan Cultutes (RSCWHC) has been conceived as a research center to help the State’s citizens better understand their immediate surroundings from an ethnographic, linguistic, anthropological and cultural perspective. The center defines “West Himalaya” as the regions known to us today as Kullu-Manali, Lahul-Spiti, Ladakh-Baltistan, Gilgi, Kashmir, Jammu and the hill tracks. RSCWHC will research, document and catalogue the human communities in this region and study how they bound together by geography and language and have overlapping ethnic and linguistic affiliations that create a continuum of frontiers cultures.
The Center has published a book and several research articles on the area. The Center is working on several research projects titled: “Ladakh’s trade relations with neighboring areas”, “Violence, Trauma and Quality of Life: An Anthropological Study in the Context of Kashmir” and in the aftermath of flash flood disaster in Ladakh region, a rapid appraisal of disaster impact assessment was also conducted.
The Center is planning to offer short course on Research Methodology in Humanities and Social Sciences for Master’s students.
The Center and Kargil Social and Cultural Organization have signed Memorandum of Understanding, whereby, the Rinchen Shah Centre shall provide expertise to the Kargil Social and Cultural Organization. Such expertise shall include academic, conceptual, logistical, and infrastructural assistance to the project of Munshi Aziz Bhat Museum, undertaken by the Kargil Social and Cultural Organisation with the aim of establishing the first ever museum of its kind in Ladakh of Central Asian Trade and Kargil arts and artifacts.