Nyingma Ritual Dances at Kathok Monastery

This is a series of dances built around a cho ritual. By "cho" I simply mean its literal English translation: to cut. (Cho typically refers to a well known visualization practice in which one meditates upon cutting up one's own body to feed to the hungry, to demons, etc.) But in the public version seen here at Kathok, the celebrant is chopping up a symbolic body made of a bloody looking dough, which is referred to as a ransom (glud, {g and d are silent}) torma. The body, as the mythic scapegoat of the community, is further ritually destroyed.
Obviously, keeping a precise beat in the music or dance is not paramount. That is the style of Tibetan chanting and dance. The monks each have precise marks they must hit. Doing them in perfect unison or pitch, however, is outside of the cultural context.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Cho
• Glud
• Tibet
• Nyingma
• Ritual
• Dances