Usually immersed in silence and solitude, once every year the gompas of Ladakh become alive at the occasion of the famous Cham Dances.
The tradition of the Cham Dance, a mask dance-drama which employs dancers wearing masks and ornamented costumes, is essentially a part of Tantric tradition and is a unique aspect of Tibetan Buddhism. Tantric, or Vajrayana Buddhism as it is more properly understood, is a form of mystical esoteric Buddhism created as an amalgam of Indian Buddhism and indigenous Himalayan spiritual and magical practice. The living legacy of these dance festivals can be traced back to vii century, and the present choreography is more than 400 years old.
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Cham Dances
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With the exception of the famous thseshu that is held at Hemis gompa in summer, these festivals take place in winter, according to the Tibetan calendar, providing a break from the enforced inactivity of the harsh climate. Every valley has its own festival, usually with some identifying traits. These festivals reinforce the social life of the community and offer opportunities for picnics and drinking, or trading. Thousands throng the gompas in their colourful best to participate in the festivities with impromptu markets springing up all around.
Cham Dances |
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The dances are sacred performances and are said to bring merit to all who observe them. The dances are dedicated to Padmasambhava and reiterate the protection of Buddha Dharma, the important theme is the subjugation of evil and the purification and protection from demonic spirits usually interwoven with moral instructions and proclaims of the victory of Buddhism and of the glory of Padmasambhava. Comic interludes intersperse the solemn performances. giving an unusual dimension to the drama. Some festivals also involve trancelike stages when monks act as oracles, making forecasts and answering individual queries.
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Cham Dances
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Chams are performed with masks and costumes of various meditative and protective deities. Five days of meditation and prayer precedes the dance, within the Vajrayana tradition, which is an elaborate process of forgetting the self, identifying with a particular deity. A cham performance is primarily a meditation in movement and an offering for the deities. Through his actions, augmented by chants, music and costume, the dancer assumes the role of the deity he is representing, thereby elevating his awareness to a higher spiritual plane. Every gesture (mudra) the dancer makes is not only symbolic, but has power in itself. The dances are heralded by long enormous horns with young acolytes bearing the front ends. Participants wear rich robes made of silk and brocade, capes and aprons and a necklace with a skull emblem, symbol of the impermanence of life. The dancers move mostly clockwise, in a circle, slowly turning and bending forward and leaning backwards, moving to the centre of the circle and then back out and turning again. with slow and solemn movements. In the courtyard next to lamas and monks reciting the scriptures, a number of musicians play traditional music with drums, cymbals and wind-instruments like the traditional Tibetan instruments 'Surna' and 'Daman' (oboe and drum).
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While in Tibet Cham dances are considered illegal and are banned, in Ladakh Vajrayana Buddhism still manage to exist with some freedom and authenticity, but now also here traditions are endangered this time by the ruthless and ignorant western tourism that is are snaking their way through the region. The monasteries near Leh, like Phyang and Hemis, for the money of western tourists, run during summer a most vulgar bastardization of this religious event, dances are vulgarly performed among people usually unaware of the spirituality of the performance, and trinket sellers that hoard every inch of available space. Tourists, brought by ruthless travel companies, act like terrorist with a camera. Also in this way the local culture dies and these ancient and unic dances may becoming extinct.
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Cham Dances
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