Hemis festival - 26th June

Hemis Gompa, the largest and richest Buddhist monastery in Ladakh plays host to the popular yearly festival day called Hemis Festival. The day has been declared as the state holiday. This 2-day festival is celebrated on the 10th day of the Tibetan lunar month and remembered as the birth of Padmasambhava, the founder of Tibetan Buddhism. During the festival, the locals get dressed-up in traditional clothes, where men wear cummerbunds and women wear vibrant headgears and loads of jewelry. The Lamas perform sacred masked dance, known as Chaam while they are accompanied by musical drums, long horns and cymbals. This is an extremely well-known festival. The most mysterious form of celebration are the mystic mask dances. The Mask Dances of Ladakh are referred collectively as chams Performance. Chams performance is a fundamental a part of Tantric tradition. Chams are performed only in the monasteries that practice Vajrayana teachings of Tantric Buddhism.

Now this Hemis festival is something that can be caught on our trip. This would be rather interesting as we would be in the region around that time and thus it is going to be an interesting experience. 

The two-day Hemis Festival celebrates victory of good over evil. One can see a number of people dressed in bright and colourful clothes to celebrate the festival. The Tibetan calendar indicates that on lunar month's tenth day, the Lama Head organises this Hemis Festival. In order to protect his people, the Tibetan Buddhism founder, Guru Padmasambhava, fought the evils. On his birth anniversary, all the people celebrate Hemis festival grandly.

Hemis Festival is one of those festivals which one should definitely visit. Tourists have a lot in store during this festival. Tourists can enjoy these festivities as spectators also. During this Hemis festival, a colourful fun-fair is held. These fairs have a number of stalls and shops where one can purchase a variety of souvenirs and handicrafts. The items kept on sale are also displayed as a part of an exhibition, where people can choose from a large variety and also window-shop.

On this particular day, a ritual is followed. People on this festival mask themselves, and sing and dance. The main highlight of the Hemis festival is the unique masked dance performed by Lamas. The dance performance depicted this festival's central theme of victory of good over evil. The Lamas gather around the central flagpole. This flagpole is located in the monastery's courtyard, where the singing and dance performances along with plays take place. One of Ladakh's oldest carnivals is the Hemis festival. This festival is organised in the monastery, which is 300-year-old and also is Ladakh's richest monastery.

All the activities during the Hemis Festival take place at the Hemis Gompa, which is the centre. This Hemis Gompa is Ladakh's largest and most affluent Buddhist monastery. This festival brings in a lot of colours in the city as the masks and costumes have vibrant and bright colours. The masks are brilliantly coloured. The costumes of the dance performers are also very eccentric and luxuriant. This colourful atmosphere brings an all new charm to the festiva

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With the brightly painted masks, which is one of the most integral part of the dance, the festival also has a lot of heavy and loud music accompanied with a lot of celebration. One can hear the sound of various musical instruments like the drums, long horns and cymbals along with the dance performances. Country liquor is considered as this festival's another major attraction.