Cham – Core Of Culture

High in the Himalayas, in Bhutan, Tibet, Nepal, and India, and across the steppes of Mongolia, Buddhist monks in medieval monasteries hold sacred festivals once a year, during which they perform 1,300-year-old mystical dances, collectively called cham, in order to transform evil for the benefit of the entire world.   The monks meditate for days and even weeks beforehand, visualizing and invoking protective deities.  Then they stage elaborate performances during which, visualizing themselves as deities, performing ancient movements, and repeating sacred mantras (invocations), they draw in the evil in the crowd and the surrounding world.  The evil is trapped in an effigy, a human body made of dough.  At the climax of the ceremony, the dance master (called a chamspon) cuts open the effigy and draws the evil into his own body to show it peace and the path to liberation, thus transforming it.   Source: Cham – Core Of Culture

Source: Cham – Core Of Culture