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| MATHO
NAGRANG FESTIVAL |
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| Location :
Ladakh, JK |
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| Feature :
Acrobatic Event |
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| Religion :
Buddhism |
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| In the month
of :
February |
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The festival of the
blindfolded acrobatic oracle monks.
21,22, Feb. 1997, 12, 13, Mar, 1998, 1,2, Mar. 1999.
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| On the 15th day of the 1st Tibetan month, a
2-day festival is held at the Matho Monastery - the only Saskyapa monastic
establishment in Ladakh. During this festival, the two oracles of the monastery
make a public appearance in their full spiritual form. These oracles, actually
monks of the monastery, meditate in complete isolation for a full months in
preparation of entering in a state of trance and invoking the spirit of the
deities.
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| On the day of the festival, they invoke and
receive the deities and come into their full spiritual trance. They run over
the high rise ramparts of the monastery, jump from one balcony to another and
execute a number of acrobatic feats, all while blindfolded !
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| People from far and wide come to hear the
oracles predict key future events and to seek answers about their own future.
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