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Festivals are annual events of the major monasteries to which the local people eagerly look forward to attending, both for attaining religious merit and as a means of social entertainment. These are generally held to commemorate the establishment of a particular monastery, the birth anniversary of its patron saint or some major events in the history and evolution of Tibetan Buddhism.
People turn out in the thousands to attend these festivals in their colourful best, making every event a carnival of colours. |
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Chhams - the ritual dances |
The core event of the monastic festival is a highly choreographed ritual dance-drama known as Chhams w hich is directed by the Chham- spon, the mystic dance master of the monastery. The dances are performed not only to dramatise the esoteric philosophy of the event for the benefit of the lay devotees, but also by way of ritual offerings to the tutelary deities of the monastery and the guardians of the faith.
A select group of resident lamas of the monastery, dressed in brightly patterned brocade, robes, perform these dances in the courtyard of the monastery. They also wear masks representing various divinities, which are mostly found in the form of statues in the " Gon Khang", the room dedicated to the guardian divinities. Some of the dances also feature masks representing famous characters from historical episodes or Tibetan fables. The more fearsome ones represent powerful divinities in their various manifestations, mostly representing the Dharmapalas or protectors of the faith. The dancers, holding ritual instruments in hands, step around the central flagpole in the monastic courtyard in solemn dance and mime, in tune with the music of the monastic orchestra. The ritual instruments and the hand gestures or mudras of the dancers symbolise different aspects of the dance-drama.
In between the more sombre sequences, relief is provided by a group of comic performers who jump into the scene in the guise of skeletons and other characters, performing comic and acrobatic feats. These also wear masks representing various divinities and religious or historical characters. |
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| Destruction of the evil |
As the Cham approaches its end on the second and last day of the festival, the climactic scene is enacted, in which the votive offering, a grotesque human figure made from dough, is ritually cut into pieces and scattered in the four cardinal directions. This figure symbolises the enemy of Buddhism as well as the embodiment of the three cardinal evils in the human soul viz. ignorance, jealousy and hatred.
Accordingly, its destruction represents killing of the enemy of Buddhism and the purification of the human soul from the three evils. This ritual is known as Dao Tulva and has many interpretations: cleansing of the soul from evils, dissolution of the human body after death into its elements, or a re-enactment of the assassination of the Tibetan apostate king Lang-dar-ma by a Buddhist monk in 842 AD.
In fact, the long-sleeved dress and the huge hat worn by leader of the Black-Hat dancer, who executes this ritual in most festivals, represents the dress used by Lang-darmas assassin to conceal his identity. |
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| Pilgrimage of the deities |
The Rimpoche or head lama incarnate of the monastery conducts the rites and ceremonies of the festival. He sits on a high throne placed in the centre of the long veranda that runs along one side of the rectangular courtyard facing the huge, elevated gates of the monasterys main prayer hall or Du- khang. This room actually serves as the green room for the artists during the festival.
The lamas of the monastery and the monk musicians in their full ceremonial attire, sit on carpet-covered cushions on either side of the throne in the veranda, according to their hierarchy.
The Rimpoche leads the lamas in the recitation of the mantras associated with the Chhams, thus creating the appropriate ambience for the dancers to enact the role of the deities whose guise they adopt. For the lay devotees, however, seeing the masked dancers serves to familiarise themselves with the kind of deities they are to encounter during the 49 days Bardo or transition period between death and rebirth in one of the six forms of existence, depending upon ones karmic existence. |
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| The festive carnival |
The monastic festivals gives the local people an opportunity for socialising, trading and entertainment. It is an occasion, for makeshift markets to spring up overnight near the monastery, to which people throng.
During the summer festivals, the visiting people organise picnics, overnight excursions, and all-night signing and dancing parties. For the more devoted villagers, however, the event is essentially a pilgrimage to the monastery and its various temples, for it is during this period only that they can see all the images and figures, which are otherwise kept veiled. |
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| The 10-Year Calendar of Monastic Festivals |
The monastic festivals of Ladakh are governed by the Tibetan calendar which is lunar calendar so dates vary on a yearly basis. Traditionally, at the end of each year, astrologers prepare a new calendar of festivals so that it is available as the New Year ushers in. Below is a calendar put together by the J&K tourism department. |
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| Festival Calendar |
Festival name |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
Spitok Gustor Zanskar |
JAN 17,18 |
JAN 6,7 |
JAN 23,24 |
Dosmoche Leh , Likir And Deskit |
FEB 15,16 |
FEB 4,5 |
FEB 22,23 |
Stok Guru Tse-Chu |
FEB 25,26 |
FEB 15,16 |
MAR 5,6 |
Matho Nagrang |
MAR 3,4 |
FEB 20,21 |
MAR 10,11 |
Budha Purnima |
MAY 31 |
JUNE 18 |
JUNE 6 |
Hemis Tse-Chu (*) |
JUN 25,26 |
JUL 12,13 |
JUL 1,2 |
Yuru Kabgyat |
JUL 2,3 |
JUL 20,21 |
JUL 8,9 |
Zanskar Karsha Gustor |
JUL 11,12 |
JUL 29,30 |
JUL 18,19 |
Ph-Yang Tsedup |
JUL 16,17 |
AUG 3,4 |
JUL 22,23 |
Korzok Gustor |
JUL 17,18 |
AUG 4,5 |
JUL 23,24 |
Dak-Thok Tse- Chu |
JUL 24,25 |
AUG 11,12 |
JUL 30,31 |
Sant Naro Nasjal |
JUL 29,30 |
AUG 15,16 |
AUG 3,4 |
Shachukul Gustor |
AUG 10,11 |
AUG 27,28 |
AUG 16,17 |
Thiksay Gustor |
OCT 28,29 |
NOV 15,16 |
NOV 4,5 |
Chemrey Angchok |
NOV 7,8 |
NOV 25,26 |
NOV 13,14 |
Galdan Namchot |
DEC 4 |
DEC 21 |
DEC 10 |
Losar |
DEC 10 |
DEC 28 |
DEC |
| Festivals highlighted in red (*) are of particulary interrest for visitors. |
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