LEH:Hemis, the biggest monastery in Ladakh will celebrate one thousand years of Buddhist yogi Naropa’s visit with a month-long festival of dance, music and religious teachings in July next year.
An 11th century saint, Naropa was believed to have been born a prince into a royal family in Kashmir and the king and queen besides the kingdom’s subjects agreed it was not befitting for Naropa to dwell in the midst of worldly people and that he should be among practitioners of the Dharma.
Hence, he was sent off to be educated at the Nalanda University where he debated with Buddhist scholars and eventually became one of the gatekeepers at the institution.
Titled “Kumbh Mela of the Himalayas,” the festival, derives its name from the mass Hindu pilgrimage held every three years in Uttar Pradesh and on similar lines seeks to bring not only the different sects of Buddhism but also people from across the globe together both physically and spiritually.
“Kumbh mela is something that is holy and well known. But, many people in the Himalayas have no idea about it. The festival will be a very holy and spiritual experience. Lots of people will gather to see big ceremonies. Therefore, we call it the Himalayan Kumbh Mela,” says Thuksey Rinpoche, who is ranked second in the Drukpa lineage hierarchy of Tibetan Buddhism.
The festival is expected to be an extended rendition of the annual Hemis festival observed at the monastery that celebrates Guru Padmasambhava’s birth anniversary, with monks donning traditional silk costumes and brightly painted masks dance to the sounds of instruments like longhorns, cymbals and drums.
However, since he is believed to have been born in the Monkey year, which comes every tweleve years, of the Tibetan calendar as predicted by the Buddha Shakyamuni, a four-storey high silk embroidery (Thanka), portraying Guru Padmasambhava donning pearls and semi-precious stones is displayed along with an exhibition of Naropa’s ornaments, is held on the ocassion.
The devotional art piece was last exhibited in the year 2004.
“Normally every year there is celebration but since in 2016, it will be 1000 years of Naropa’s visit to Ladakh, besides the unfurling of the historic traditional silk thanka on July 14, 2016, it will also witness the largest assembly of Drukpa masters offering their teachings and sermons,” says First Chief Abbot of Hemis monastery, Khenpo Tsewang Rigzin, who is also a Buddhist scholar.
One of the major attractions of the Hemis festival,
however, is expected to be the ceremony where Gyalwang Drukpa, the head of the Drukpa Order, will wear the six bone ornaments belonging to Naropa.
It is said that following an encounter with a Vajrayogini who told him about the Buddhist master Tilopa, Mahasiddha Naropa embarked upon a search for his Guru to understand the inner, essential meaning of the Dharma.
After having undergone numerous hardships he eventually found his master and was enlightened to realise the ultimate nature of Buddhahood.
“The sight of the Guru wearing the bone ornaments is believed to help prevent human beings from entering the three lower realms of ‘Animal’, ‘Hungry Ghost’ and ‘Hell’ in the next birth,” says Lynne Dipam, who heads the International Public Communication for “Live to Love,” an NGO founded by Gyalwang Drukpa.
“This does not mean that it will only be Naropa’s ornaments that will be displayed throughout the month. Those will be exhibited only for two or three days. Throughout the month we will have different kinds of activities. For two days the Hemis festival will be celebrated.
“After that, the ornaments will be displayed, followed by masters and scholars imparting teachings. There will also be Ladakhi cultural performances during the day,” says Thuksey Rinpoche.
Besides all the religious practices, the monastery also intends to host free eye camps during the festival, due to the increasing number of cataract cases among the inhabitants of the region.
According to the monastery, they do not want to invite people merely for praying but also extend the prayers into “a full month of rich service.”
“People here suffer from early cataract disease because of the strong ultra violet rays. So, we are already talking to medical experts, so that eye camps can be set up next year during the festival. Since, we are expecting a footfall of about 1.5 million at the occasion, it will also be easier to conduct screening and provide free cataract surgeries,” says Dipam.
The festival, which is set to begin from July 1 next year, will continue for an entire month till July 31. (PTI)
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