The Preparations for the Dance

Even before the dancers put on their costumes, they meditate inside the monastery. They »create the deity within themselves«, before they portray it in the courtyard.

During some of the dances, ritual masks are worn that can depict wrathful deities, animals or manifestations of Guru Rinpoche. They are to assist the portrayed beings to having a presence in the festivities.

Before the masks are worn by the monks, they have to be ceremonially cleaned and consecrated by a Lama. They are only worn for the purposes of a tshechu*. The rest of the year they are kept in the monastery and hung above an altar.

The dancers wear their masks so high, that they can look out through the mask's mouth.