The Course of the Village Ritual

The first two days of the festival are spent with secular and ritual preparations. Alone the creation of the often artfully decorated dough figurines takes up much time. Again and again, the lay-population perform dances or men and women compete in singing contests. One group sings a single verse and the other has to answer in a fitting and, if possible, in a more humorous manner. The social aspect of this gathering definitely stands in the foreground of both days - if one understands the mountain god to be a religious expression of social unity, this also makes sense in a religious context.

The high point of the festival is the last day. Now all the villagers dress up in their finest clothes. In one northern province the women wear a tunic-like garment which nowadays is only worn on this special day. These tunics were originally the daily attire in these regions, before they were displaced by contemporary fashions. With these clothes, one probably wants to show the mountain god that the old traditions are still held in high esteem.

Now the deity is invocated. It can often happen, that the medium of the village is possessed by it. The community can now come into direct contact with the deity. Questions can be asked and the deity answers directly through the mouth of the medium.

The War Dance

Men from the most respected families of the village now gather in the temple in front of the shrine of the protective gods. They are often dressed up in the costumes of the ancient warriors. In this way, one shows the deity that one is quite willing to fight when it is asked for help or support. While in earlier times the causes were real and imminent military expeditions, so today it is the battle against evil itself. Afterwards, the warriors dance in the courtyard of the temple in order to banish the harmful spirits. Then they move to the hut - especially built for this purpose - in which a Lama performs the ceremony in front of the altar, decorated with torma*.

This procession, however, does not take the most direct route. Rather, in zig-zag movement, it marks off the collective territory of the community which is now again within the protective area of the benevolent Yül lha*.

At the close of this festival of worship, all of the sacrificial gifts are consumed at a great feast meal which is given for all of the participants.