Mystery Cham (Tsam) in the Ki monastery

22 Квітня 2019

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С любезного разрешения Леонида Беленицкого – издателя журнала “Acupuncture Yoga Reiki” и с помощью Игоря Кедровского – главного редактора этого же журнала – размещаю здесь одну страничку английского варианта моей статьи.
На русском языке полная версия – завтра!

ki-monastery-spiti — Танец Чам в монастыре Ки

Unexpected meeting To the Spiti Valley, also called Little Tibet, we drove en route from Kalpa. There is no cell phone reception in the remote Himalayan areas. I knew where the shutdown would be and decided to check my email as well as take a look at Facebook. The social network reminded me that exactly a year ago I placed my photo in it with Nima Lama, a monk from Ki monastery. I clicked on the button “Share memories”. In about five minutes we were overtaken by a car in which Nim Lama was sitting in the passenger seat. But maybe I just imagined that? After another 10 minutes in the village of Spello, where everyone usually stops for a snack, I was convinced that it was Nima Lama. A year before this extremely unlikely meeting, Nima Lama suggested that I spend the winter in Ki monastery as a teacher for monastic children. I refused. Monasticism was not part of my plans, and in a cold winter (up to minus twenty) in the Spiti valley, living in the harsh monastic conditions, only such a lifestyle was possible. All the same Nima Lam in July 2016, was explaining to me and my trekker friends some features of the ritual clothing of one of the main characters of the Cham dance.

Cham Spiti Festival

The Tibetan monastery of Ki is the largest in the Spiti valley. About three hundred monks live here. Once a year in June-July (the date is determined according to the Lunar calendar) the Cham festival is held here. I have been to it twice – in 2013 and 2016. To say that I was very impressed is to say nothing. This is an incredible magic and fascinating action. Spiti Valley is not for nothing called Indian Tibet (along with Ladakh). Here are classic Tibetan landscapes (stunningly beautiful), Tibetans have lived here for centuries, Tibetan monasteries here, Tibetan culture and Tibetan traditions. One of them is the Cham festival. This is not a monastic event at all. Tibetans from the whole valley, as well as from the nearby Ping, Lalung, Lahul and Kinnaur valleys gather for the main dance ritual at Ki monastery. This is…