Dosmoche is a Buddhist festival celebrated in Ladakh, India. It is celebrated in Leh, Likir Monastery and Diskit Monastery.
History
Dosmoche was started by the rulers of Ladakh.
The festival was started during kingdom of King Lhachen Gongdup/ Lha-chen-Dnos-grub (1295–1320).
He fought two battles with invaders from Nyungti (Kullu of Himachal Pradesh) to inhibit the exterminatory forces of the battles.
Sacred mask dances, known as
Cham dance, are carried out in the courtyard of the old chapel, below the gates of the Leh Palace.
Lamas are drawn from different monasteries from across Ladakh on a rotation basis for this festival.
Celebrations
High pitched sound of
gyaling with the periodic sound of the
echoed off the bare rocky slopes with the rhythmic beats of the drum.
look attractive in multicoloured
and various
, representing various forms of
deity including
Buddha.
They danced to the beats with colorful fluttering surge to ward off evil and welcome universal peace and happiness.
Mask dances are an essential part of Tantric tradition of Mahayana Buddhism.
At a one-kilometre stretch from Moti-Market to the other end of Leh Bazaar, thousands of stalls are also famous for a two-day long festival.
Schedule
Since Ladakh follows the Tibetan lunar calendar and Dosmoche festival comes on the twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth day of the twelfth month of the
Tibetan calendar, every year the festival falls on a different date of the Gregorian calendar.
|
|
| 27–28 February |
| 17–18 February |
| 6–7 February |
| 24–25 February |
| 13–14 February |
| 2–3 February |
| 21–22 February |
| 12–13 February |
| 28 February - 1 March |
| 18–19 February |
|
Gallery
