Hemis Tse-Chu festival Leh Ladakh
HEMIS TSE-CHU
The festival of Padmasambhava
The 10th day (Tses- Chu) of the Tibetan lunar month is celebrated as the birthday of Padmasambhava (Guru Rimpoche), the founder of Tibetan Buddhism.
The Hemis Monastery celebrates this event in the form of a 2 day festival. Its resident Lamas perform sacred masked dances leading to the destruction of the sacrificial offerings. Masks worn by the lamas represent various guardian divinities of the Dugpa order, of which Hemis is the leading establishment in Ladakh.
This 200 year-old tradition was introduced by a member of Ladakh’s ruling family who was reincarnated in the 18th century as the monastery’s Head lama, ‘ Sras Rimpoche’. The Hemis dances are a re-enactment of the magical feats of Padmasambhava, in his services to the cause of Buddhism in his eight different manifestations.
The festival takes an auspicious turn every 12 years in the Tibetan Year of the Monkey, when the two-storey high ‘Thankga’ depicting Padmasambhava is displayed. This famous Thankga, richly embroidered with pearls and and semi-precious stones, is due to be displayed next in AD 2004.
As the Hemis festival is held during the peak summer season. It attracts the largest number of people from within and outside Ladakh.
