Auspicious Song of Five. Sung by Gyalses Nima Nurboo, aged eighty-four, the descendant of the royal lineage of Zangla. He is still referred to locally as the ‘king of Zangla.’ This is a so-called ‘auspicious song’ or stamdal. ‘Auspicious songs’ are sung on various happy occasion: during marriages, childbirth (Lda-Gang ceremonies), or when one is going to ask for a girl’s hand (when people are already seated inside the house). They are sung not only in Zanskar, but all over Ladakh as well. They are among the few songs that are still widely sung, despite the decline of traditional songs in the region. There are different kinds of stamdal songs, this one is referred to as the ‘fifth.’ The song tells about how before celebrating anything, happiness comes first; the language of the song belongs to a formal, high register, not to the everyday spoken language. It is near to Classical Tibetan.