Annual Gustor Festival in Tashi Lhunpo Monastery – Cham dance 2026

Описание: Description translated in Hindi, Tibetan. Now we will witness another most famous Cham Dance or Mask Dance. Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, Bylakuppe, Karnataka, is a prominent Buddhist Religious, Educational and Cultural Center in Southern region. They follow the Gelugpa sect of Buddhism. The place is in Kushalnagar near Mysuru. The Gustor is an important Buddhist religious event, and imparts Cham dance, which coincides with Losar or Tibetan New year. The ceremony begins with a series of prayers of Thordup, whose chants you listen in my earlier video. The aim of the festival is to invoke deities to eradicate evil spirits and negative energy. It’s also related to peace and prosperity with purification of earth and welcoming of the New Year. The festival culminates with two-day long Cham Dance. The video highlights the different kinds of masks and costumes that the monks wear and perform inside the monastery. These masks are an essential part of Tantric Mahayana Buddhism and symbolize the triumph of good over evil. Some of the specific types of masks used during the festival include:
Black Hat Masks - worn by dancers performing the Black Hat dance
Lamao Masks - symbolizing female deities
She doh, Gombo Chardong Mahakala Masks - representing protective deities
Citipati Masks of Lord of symmetry - joyful, reminding imminence of mortality
Shanzam Deer & Yamantaka Buffalo Masks - protection and taming negative forces
Gegtorma - a puppet or a figure prepared with barley flour and butter as a part of a powerful wrathful ritual believed to absorb all negative energy, bad luck, and obstacles from the past year. The effigy is burnt to destroy all obstacles.
Sincere thanks to Stanzin Falzang and Karma Chogyal
Please refer following videos:
   • Soulful rendition of Thordup chants at Tas...  
   • Dosmoche festival 2026, and Cham Dance in ...  
Happy viewing .....