16 June,2011 07:11 AM IST | | Trip team
Religion and society are more inter-mingled than the common man gives them credit for. Nowhere does this fuse better than at monastic festivals that are attended for religious merit and social entertainment. The trip selects three of india's best to savour a slice of local life
Hemis Festival, Ladakh
About 40 kms southeast of Leh lies the Hemis Monastery, the biggest and richest Buddhist monastery in the Ladakh region. Before the harsh winters set in, thousands of tourists descend on Leh and Ladakh, popular for their barren beauty and adventure possibilities. If a trip to this area is due, you can't afford to miss the legendary Hemis Festival, a two-day extravaganza that is marked by prayers and the display of an age-old thangka (religious painting). At this time, monks perform their traditional dances to celebrate the birth anniversary of the monastery's founder, Padmasambhava. Its resident Lamas perform sacred masked dances leading to the destruction of the evil forces, and sacrificial offerings. The core event of the monastic festival is a highly choreographed ritual dance-drama known as 'Chhams', which is directed by the 'Chham-spon', the mystic dance master of the monastery. They dramatise the esoteric philosophies of the religion for a lay man, as well as for ritual offerings to the tutelary deities of the monastery and the guardians of the faith. This year, the festival takes place on July 10 and 11.
Torgya Festival, Arunachal Pradesh
Usually celebrated at the end of January for three days, Torgya (also called Dung-gyur) is one of the main festivals of the Monpa tribe and has a rich presence of colourful dances. Monks initiate the preparation of the festival by making a pyramidal structure of about ten feet height of flour, called Torgya, and placing it before the images of deities in the main prayer hall. The Lamas then recite religious texts, called Torgya Chhaker, dressed in full warrior outfit known as Arpu. Celebrated to ward off evil and usher in luck and prosperity, the festival is performed at the Tawang Monastery.
Bumchu Festival, Sikkim
This sacred water festival of Bumchu (bum for vase and chu for water) is held in Tashiding Monastery on the 14th and 15th day of the first month of the Tibetan Lunar Year (which usually falls in February or March). Attracting thousands of devotees from Nepal, Bhutan, Darjeeling and surrounding areas, the festival is celebrated at the Tashiding Monastery. Numerous makeshift shops are set up and do brisk business at this time. During the festival, the pot containing the holy water is opened by the Lamas of the monastery. The level of water in the pot is said to foretell the future for the forthcoming year. If the water is to the brim, it foretells a year in which peace and prosperity will prevail; if it is spilling over, it signifies a year with natural disasters and disturbances and if the water lever is low or almost dry it signifies famine.
