Tengboche Mani Rimdu
๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ฝ ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ธ, with a twist. Witnessing the incredible ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ ๐ฅ๐ถ๐บ๐ฑ๐ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐น, a rare glimpse into the vibrant spiritual heart of the Himalayas. Definitely not your average EBC experience. The most famous ceremony in Tengboche Mani Rimdu, performed in the 9th Tibetan month, which usually falls in late October or November. The prayers will be said over many days, but for the villagers, the most important part is when they receive the blessing from Ringpoche, and when the monks perform the masked dances. After this, the whole village gets together and gather for traditional sherpa dances until late night at Tengboche Monastery. These colorful and festive celebrations are the culmination of ten days of prayer on the Buddha of compassion. Avalokiteshvara. The ceremonies are performed for the benefit of all beings.
How it started?
The Mani Rimdu in Tengboche is performed according to the tradition of Mindroling and came from Rongbuk Monastery north of Tenboche in Tibet. The name comes from โ Maniโ part of the chant of Avalokiteshvara, and Rimdu which are the small red pills, which are blessed throughout the ceremony and distributed to everyone at the empowerment ceremony.
In the beginning, a beautiful and intricate mandala or sacred diagram is drawn in fine coloured sand. The sand is collected from a special place high in the mountains. It takes four days to complete the mandala. It is then covered and used as a focus for the daily ceremonies and meditation for the next ten days.
Meaning Behind the Mask Dances
At the end of the ceremonies, on the 16th day, the monk performs the sacred mask dances known as Cham in the courtyard. There are sixteen dances with some comic interludes that delight the crowds. These dances are a recreation of the establishment of Buddhism in the Himalayas by the legendary Padmasambhava, known as Guru Ringpoche.
The dances convey Buddhist teaching in symbolic form. The conquering of demons symbolizes the overcoming of hatred, greed, and ignorance through meditation on compassion and wisdom. At night, the local Sherpa gather in the courtyard of the monastery for traditional folk singing and dancing.
On the last day, when most people have gone home, a fire Puja is performed by the monks to dispel all harm in the world. Afterwards, the sand mandala is symbolically dismantled with a dedication prayer and the compassion that the merit gained may benefit all sentient beings by relieving their suffering.
Mani Rimdu Dances:
The Cham dances at Tengboche came from Rongbuk monastery in Tibet. There is no other identical Mani Rimdu festival. The dances aim to prevent all obstacles to strong faith in the Buddha Dharam and the excerise of compassion. Each dance relates to a puja which was done during the earlier days of the festival.
Rol-cham is the grand entrance of the monks wearing yellow hats and playing ritual Instruments.
Serkyem is the first dance with dancers in costumes with black hats. This dance is to extend and enhance oneโs life, health, intelligence, and appearance. The black hats represent Vajrayana Yogi priests.
Khing-Cham is danced by four attendants of Dorje Trollo, a wrathful appearance of Guru Rinpoche who established Buddhism in Tibet . Two are femalses with drums and the two males carry cymbals. They make offering to Dorje Trollo. Dorje Trollo appears as a single masked dancer. He is preceded by monks playing ritual instruments.
Nga- cham was a dance of Guru Rinpoche when he blessed Samye, the first monastery in Tibet. The six dancers wear golden hats with peacock feather and carry drums in the past, these hats were worn by Tibetan officials.
Rutang- cham is a complicated dance with two skeletons and two black hat dangers. The skeltons carry a dough figure reperesenting evil on a rope between them. It is symbolically destroyed by the black hat dancers.
Mi Tshering, the long-life man, is a comic interlude.
At night, the local Sherpas gather in the courtyard of the monastery for traditional folk singing and dancing.
Not every trekker gets to witness this sacred celebration. Dive deep into Sherpa culture, witness ancient masked dances, and feel the spiritual energy of the monastery Puja. With blessings from the lamas, embark on your journey to greater heights โ both within and above in Everest Region.
