Sho Dun Festival

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Dancing at Sho Dun Festival, Norbulingka, 1993 Dancing at Sho Dun Festival, Norbulingka.JPG
Dancing at Sho Dun Festival, Norbulingka, 1993

The Sho Dun Festival (Tibetan : ༄༅། ཞོ་སྟོན།; Chinese :雪頓節; pinyin :Xuĕdùn Jié), commonly known as the Yogurt Festival [1] or Banquet is an annual festival held at Norbulingka or "Jewel Park" palace in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region.

Traditional Chinese characters Traditional Chinese characters

Traditional Chinese characters are Chinese characters in any character set that does not contain newly created characters or character substitutions performed after 1946. They are most commonly the characters in the standardized character sets of Taiwan, of Hong Kong and Macau, and in the Kangxi Dictionary. The modern shapes of traditional Chinese characters first appeared with the emergence of the clerical script during the Han Dynasty, and have been more or less stable since the 5th century.

Hanyu Pinyin, often abbreviated to pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Chinese in mainland China and to some extent in Taiwan. It is often used to teach Standard Mandarin Chinese, which is normally written using Chinese characters. The system includes four diacritics denoting tones. Pinyin without tone marks is used to spell Chinese names and words in languages written with the Latin alphabet, and also in certain computer input methods to enter Chinese characters.

Yogurt dairy product

Yogurt, yoghurt or yoghourt is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. The bacteria used to make yogurt are known as yogurt cultures. The fermentation of lactose by these bacteria produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to give yogurt its texture and characteristic tart flavor. Cow's milk is commonly available worldwide and, as such, is the milk most commonly used to make yogurt. Milk from water buffalo, goats, ewes, mares, camels, and yaks is also used to produce yogurt where available locally. The milk used may be homogenized or not, even pasteurized or raw. Each type of milk produces substantially different results.

The festival is celebrated in the summer, from the 15th to the 24th of the 5th lunar month - usually about the middle of August, after a month's retreat by the monks who stay within their monasteries to avoid walking on the emerging summer insects and killing them.

Partying at Sho Dun Festival, Norbulingka, 1993 Partying at Sho Dun Festival, Norbulingka.JPG
Partying at Sho Dun Festival, Norbulingka, 1993

It began in the 16th century with a banquet given by the lay people for the monks featuring yogurt. Later on, summer operas, or Lhamo , and theatricals were added to the festivities. The operas, "last all day with clashing cymbals, bells and drums; piercing recitatives punctuating more melodious choruses; hooded villains, leaping devils, swirling girls with long silk sleeves. In the past dancers came from all over Tibet, but today there is only the state-run Lhasa Singing and Dancing Troupe." [2]

Lhamo Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in China, inscribed in 2009

Lhamo, or Ache Lhamo, is a classical secular theatre of Tibet with music and dance that has been performed for centuries, whose nearest western equivalent is opera. Performances have a narrative and simple dialogue interspersed with comedy and satire; characters wear colorful masks. The core stories of these theatrical plays are drawn mostly from ancient Indian Buddhist folk tales, lives of important people and historical events from Tibetan civilization. However the ceremonial, dance and ritual spectacles strongly reflects the Tibetan Royal Dynastic period.

The beautiful grounds of the Norbulingka are filled with partying groups shielded from the wind by gaily coloured hanging walls of rugs and printed canvas. There is much feasting and visiting between family groups and bonfires are common at night.

Footnotes

  1. Yogurt festival celebrated in Tibet - China.org.cn
  2. Catriona Bass. Inside the Treasure House: A Time in Tibet. 1990. Victor Gollancz Ltd. paperback reprint. Rupa & Co. New Delhi, p. 201

Photos: Buddha painting unfolding ceremony in Tibet

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