Many walls of Tibetan monasteries are covered with paintings and
masks of ghosts and demons. For strangers to Tibetan Buddhism, they
might appear scary. Some have dark faces and ferocious teeth and
are topped by miniature skulls and horns. But the masks come to
life during festivals when they are worn by dancing monks.
Tibetans believe that the arrival of Buddhism to their land
transformed these threatening gods of the old Bon religion into
benevolent protectors. The dances are rituals to frighten away evil
spirits, as well as to explain Buddhist history. I had been to
Tibetan areas in China several times, but I was never able to fit
any festivals into my trip. One of them, the unveiling of a
monastery’s giant picture of Buddha, takes place for only one hour,
once every year, at several monasteries. Many believe the ceremony
brings good luck.
During my last trip, two of us carefully planned our itinerary
around two festivals, which were, fortunately, only five days apart
and only four hours by car away from each other. They were at
altitudes lower than in Tibet itself.
First Stop: Xining
We flew from Beijing to Xining, the capital of Qinghai province,
which was once part of Tibet and is still known there as Amdo. We
used travel agent Yang Cheng Cai, based in Xining, China, who was
reliable and very knowledgeable and accompanied us on much of the
trip.
The unveiling of the giant thanka (Nepalese paintings of
religious themes) at Kumbum Monastery was only a 25-minute taxi
ride away from Xining. As we arrived, we found dozens of men
carrying a long scroll up the side of a hill. When they unrolled
it, we could see a huge green-faced Buddha. It must have been at
least 40 feet long. I felt a surge of emotion as I realized this
was probably one of the largest religious pictures in the world.
While it was on display, a handful of women in traditional dress
prostrated themselves reverently at its base. Worshippers threw
silk scarves into it as a symbol of welcome, while monks with big,
curved yellow hats and maroon robes chanted, beat drums and
collected donations of money and ceremonial food.
Afterward, we saw the masked dances. Our cameras clicked
constantly at the colorful ghosts, demons, yak and deer. Dance
movements were slow and repetitious, a twirl, hop and swing to the
beat of cymbals and drums. The day was bright and sunny, great for
picture taking, and the rituals went on for four hours, maybe a
mite too long to hold the attention of non-believers. Kumbum itself
was huge, beautiful and exotic, and I wish we had skipped some of
the ritual to see the city.
During our five days in between festivals, Yang took us to the
Dalai Lama’s birthplace, which is now a shrine decorated with
hundreds of prayer flags. We also visited an interesting Moslem
minority community and several temples, one of them on the side of
a cliff.
On to Tongren
Our drive to Tongren (or Rekong as it is known in Tibetan) was
over a 12,000-foot pass, and the journey through the mountains and
past great yellow fields of canola blossoms is breathtaking. These
days getting there takes only three hours by car from Xining since
the government completed a highway, which runs through a tunnel in
the mountain.
Tongren must have at least 10 Tibetan temples and monasteries.
In one temple more than 100 dancers in splendid traditional
costumes performed a ritual for two days, calling on the temple’s
deity, Shachung, to predict the future through two shamans.
Children as young as 4, danced happily with many adults. They
were all dressed in traditional costumes, which are made of silks
decorated with otter fur. Most wore fancy Tibetan boots. The dances
were slow and easy to the heavy beat of drums and cymbals. At
times, the dancers seemed worn out, but they kept it up all
day.
That day and the next, the two shamans sporadically went out
into the crowd and told people to dance or chided them about their
excessive drinking and gambling habits. They threw barley at the
villagers to emphasize their points. About once an hour, a shaman
ordered them to burn more offerings of food and drink in one of two
fireplaces, causing great clouds of smoke to rise over the temple
gate, a thick pathway to the god.
A village leader said shamans received no money for their
services.
“It is their duty,” he said.
The festival continued for three days in other nearby villages,
but I didn’t have the time to stay. Still, I left Tongren with my
camera’s memory cards completely filled, hoping to return to yet
another Tibetan festival the horse racing festival in Yushu, also
in Qinghai next summer.
THE DETAILS Getting there: There are at least four flights
a day from Beijing to Xining. There are also daily flights from
China’s Chengdu, Guangshou, Hangzhou, Lhasa, Qingdao, Shanghai,
Urumqi and Xian. From Xining, you can go by taxi to the Kumbum
Monastery or Tongren. Where to stay: The best hotel in Xining is the
new five-star Yinlong Hotel which opened in July 2005. We stayed at
the Qinghai Hotel and the Xining Hotel, which were both adequate.
In Tongren, the modest Huangnan Telecom Hotel has no restaurant and
no elevator but is satisfactory. The dates of festivals vary according to the lunar calendar.
Check with the China National Tourist Office for dates.
www.cnto.org Qinghai CCT (Travel Agency)
Yang Cheng Cai
86-971-399-2299
E-mail: wildyak@21cn.com
www.trans-tibet.com |