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The
religious philosophy of Buddhism, however, profound and subtle
doesn't preclude an immense joie-de-vivre among its Ladakhi adhe-rents,a
nd even solemn religious enactments are made the occasion for
joyous celebration. Many of the annual festivals of the gompas
take place in winter, a relatively idle time for the majority
of the people.
They take the form of dance-dramas in the gompa courtyards. Lamas,
robed in colourful garments and wearing often startlingly frightful
masks, performs mimes representing various aspects of the religion
such as the progress of the individual soul and its purification
or the triumph of good over evil.
Local people flock from near and far to these events, and the
spiritual benefits they get are no doubt heightened by their enjoyment
of the party atmosphere, with crowds of women and men, the opportunity
to make new friendships and renew old ones, the general bustle
and sense of occasion.
The biggest and most famous of the monastic festivals, frequented
by tourists and local alike, is that of Hemis, which falls in
late June or the first half of July, and is dedicated to Padmasambhava.
Every 12 years, the gompa's greatest treasure, a huge thangka
- a religious icon painted or embroidered on cloth - is ritually
exhibited. The next unveiling is due to take place in A.D. 2004.
Other monasteries which have summer festivals are Lamayuru (also
early July), Phiyang (late July or early August), Tak-thok (about
ten days afer Phiyang) and Karsha inZanskar (11 days after Phiyang).
Like Hemis, the Phiyang festival too involves the exhibition of
gigantic thangka, though here it is done every year.
Spituk, stok, thikse, chemrey and Matho all have their festivals
in winter, between November and March. Likir and Deskit (Nubra
)time their festivals to coincide with Dosmoche, the festival
of the scapegoat, which is also celebrated with fervour at Leh.
Falling in the second half of February, Dosmoche is one of two
New Year festivals, the other being Losar. At Dosmoche, a great
wooden mast decorated with streamers and religious emblems is
et up outside Leh. At the appointed time, offerings of storma,
ritual figures moulded out of dough, are brought out and ceremonially
cast away into the desert, or burnt. These scapegoats carry away
with them the evil spirits of the old year, and thus the town
is cleansed and made ready to welcome the new year.
Losar falls about the time of the winter solstice, any time between
8th and 30th December. All Ladakhi Buddhists celebrate it by making
offerings to the gods, both in gompas and in their domestic shrines.
The
religious philosophy of Buddhism, however, profound and subtle
doesn't preclude an immense joie-de-vivre among its Ladakhi adhe-rents,a
nd even solemn religious enactments are made the occasion for
joyous celebration. Many of the annual festivals of the gompas
take place in winter, a relatively idle time for the majority
of the people. 
