The Ladhak Series: Hemis festival 2010

I was lucky enough to have my Ladhak visit coinciding with the Hemis Festival on 21st and 22nd of June 2010. The Hemis monastery is the largest and the richest Gompa in Ladhak. The monastery is situated away 7 kms from the main road and goes very well with the actual meaning and purpose of a Gompa – meaning a Solitary place.

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The Hemis festival is conducted ever summer to commemorate the birth of Guru Padmassambhava, the founder of tantric Buddhism in Tibet. During the festival, the lamas perform the sacred dance wearing colourful robes and mask.

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Though the festival turned out to be a great opportunity to click some great photographs, I missed on the opportunity to derive the meaning of the actual dance. One could easily relate the dance drama to Good V/s Evil. However I did get different interpretations from various sources (book and locals), with each one of them deriving their own meaning out of this act, further adding to my confusion. Maybe that’s how it was designed to be seen. As they say, nothing is right and nothing is wrong. It’s only the way we see it.