Hemish festival
The courtyard of Hemis Gompa-the biggest Buddhist monastery
in Ladakh is the stage for the famous 'Hemis' festival
that celebrates the birth anniversary of Guru Padmasambhava.
The colourful two-day pageant falls on the 10th day
(Tse-Chu) of the Tibetan lunar month. The local people
are seen dressed up in their finest traditional garb
for the occasion. Lamas called 'chhams' perform splendid
masked dances and sacred plays to the accompaniment
of cymbals, drums and long horns. The head lama presides
over the function. The festival takes an auspicious
turn every 12 years in the Tibetan Year of the Monkey,
when the two-storey high 'Thanka' depicting Padmasambhava
is displayed. This famous 'Thanka', richly embroidered
with pearls and semi-precious stones, is due to be displayed
at this years festival i.e in 2004. A colourful fair,
displaying some beautiful handicrafts, is the special
highlight of the festival.
HEMIS MONASTERY
40 km from Leh, it is the wealthiest, best-known and
biggest gompa of Ladakh. Its popularity stems from the
major annual festival held here in summer. The festival
is in honour of Guru Padma Sambhav's birth anniversary.
It also has the largest Thangkha in Ladakh, which is
unfurled, once in 12 years (next in 2004) Hemis was
built in 1630 during the reign of Sengge Namgyal, an
illustrious ruler of Ladakh. It flourished under the
Namgyal dynasty for the royalty favoured the Drugpa
sect, which managed the monastery. It is divided into
two, the assembly hall on the right and the main temple
on the left. The hall Dukhang is also used as "green
room" by the dancers during the festival. The temple
is known as Tshogkhang. The varandahs have a surfeit
of frescoes, among them the Buddhist 'wheel of life'
(Kalachakra) and the lords of the four quarters, besides
the prayer wheel.
Splendid masked dances are performed to the accompaniment
of cymbals, drums & long horns. A colorful fair,
displaying some beautiful handicrafts, is the special
highlight of the festival.
Tsongkhap's Birthday And Buddhahood
This socio-religious event is celebrated to observe
the birthday and the Buddhahood of Tsongkhapa- the Tibetan
saint-scholar who founded the Gelukpa school of Tibetan
Buddhism during the 14th century. The Gelukpa School
later developed as the dominant monastic order in Central
Tibet.
The festivities include illumination of all monastic,
public and residential buildings throughout Ladakh .
Namchaot heralds the beginning of the New Year celebrations,
which continue till the festival of Dosmoche.
During this festival, it is customary to prepare various
varieties of the traditional dish, Thukpa' in every
home to be served to visiting friends and relatives
to mark celebration of the festival.
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