Hi there,
One of the important events for a monastery in Ladakh is holding of the annual mask dance festival with much enthusiasms and gaiety!
Prior to the festival, about two weeks before the monks began to arrrive from distant village gompas or ‘Lhabrangs’ (monk’s residence in a community) to under go ‘Chamjang’ (daily practice of mask dance).
two monk jesters during mask dance
The monks had been deputed to villages in the case of big monasteries to provide religious services to their patron village families.
Also taking care of distant village branch Gompa were they conduct daily ‘Solkha’ or ritual in case of residing ‘Çhokong’ (Dharmapala) or any other important deity.
Also filling of daily seven or more water bowls, burning of daily morning and evening lamps also taking around of burning inscents around each of the separate temples of the gompa.
They also hold various rituals which these families have traditionally been holding in their homes from the times of their ancestors during different seasons of the year.
Jhanak mask dance
The monastic festival is for two days and on the eve of the festival there is the ‘Dick Chams’ or preparatory mask dance.
Then arrives the first day of the festival when people all over the region come to see these. The festivity provides two front purposes.
Firstly, it works as annual pilgrimage to the monastery secondly to view the annual mask dances.
There are six to eight different mask dances both during pre and post lunch sessions. And each of these dances are unique and different.
Wrathful mask dance of deity
Guru Dorje Tholo
In case of energetic mask dances young monks are selected while in case of Dharmapalas, Buddhas and Bodhisattva senior monks dance in much slow and graceful manner.
Some of the common mask dances include, ‘Hashang and Hat toog’ in case of Gelugpa monasteries of Thigtse, Spetub and Lukhil etc. It has big head signifying wisdom and with six of its novices. It also indicate providing good health, wealth and happiness.
Hemis Gompa mask dances
Next we have ‘Atsarak’ (skeletal mask dances) throwing barley flour over the crowd they are young boys hence very energetic dances. They convey the message of impermenence of all compounded things even our lives.
Then comes the ‘Jhanak’ (the black hat attired with black mole on each of the chick bones) these indicate the hero who eliminated the King Lung Dharma the evil King of Tibet in the 9th century A.D.
Evil because he went about killing all the learned beings in Tibet during this period hence need for his elimination.
Then comes out the main Dharmapala of the sect or tradition such as Gonbo or Mahakala or Yamantaka of Jigjet in case of Thigtse monastery.
Key figure Guru Padma Sambhava
Mask dances are part of the Vajrayana teachings hence secret. To understand these teaching one has to take initiation regarding these deities. And treading of this path helps one to transport on the path of realization at a very fast pace also there is greater risk of failing the path if not done with sharp elertness!
One common percept among the local people is that all these images one encounters after one’s demise in the in-between stages of death which lingers for forty nine days.
And at the end of forty nine day the dead person takes a new life form in each of the six Buddhist realms that are divided into ‘Nyandho’ three upper forms of life that is, that of human life, Gods life and Demi- Gods life and ‘Nyansong’ having the three lower forms of life that is, animal life, life of hungry ghost and life in hell as per one’s karma during the life lived! Bye for now.