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IN the second week of the first month of every lunar year in the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Southern Gansu Province, an important religious festival takes place. It is the annual displaying of Buddha's image held in one of the six renowned monasteries of the Gelu (Yellow Religion) School of Tibetan Buddhism. Here, in the Labrang Monastery, it marks the gathering of many Tibetan Buddhists from the surrounding regions, some who have trekked for months on foot to attend. A few friends and I went to observe.
Arriving in the town of Labrang, we encountered teeming streets full of Tibetan, Mongolians and Huis, splendid in their national costumes. For the handsome Tibetan men this consists of a rich and costly ensemble (some can spend over 10,000 yuan on an outfit)of leather trimmed traditional gowns and fur hats, long their hips.
The Tibetan women's garb is equally rich. Silk robes are laced with expenive fur or leather; silver jewelry is hung from ear, neck and waist, laden with precious stones. The crowning jewel of their costume though is the hair ornaments (some made from natural resin fossil) which flow down their backs like majestic waterfalls. These last are a symbol of high status and these women are focus of much attention.
For devout believers this festival is of great religious importance and they come here to worship, to show their respect and to receive the touch and blessing of the highest living Buddha of the monastery. Venturing away from the festival's center we met a demobilized soldier who graciously became our host. He told us that a person who has not received this touch is not considered to be a true Tibetan by their kinsmen.
Well into dawn of January 13th, the day of the ceremony, we see pilgrims arriving laden with gifts for the images of Buddha. They come with cattle, sheep, hada, and buckets of butter or, when they cannot afford anything else, piles of firewood. It is a sobering sight to see solitary old women bowed under by the stacks of wood on their backs as they make their way towards the monastery.
Immediately on their arrival, the worshipers make the three-hour walk along the monastery's corridors before entering each of the chambers and kowtowing to the image inside. With hands held high and palms joined, they commence to touch mouth and chest, taking a small step forward after each, before throwing themselves to their knees and finally prostrating themselves, foreheads tapping the ground. Each kowtow is performed whilst chanting the six-word sutra and is marked by moving forward one bead of the string they hold in their palms.
Placing the palms together shows an understanding of the Buddha's decrees and instructions. Touching forehead, mouth and chest means that all parts of their bodies have mixed with the Buddha, combining into one. In your life you are expected to complete at least 100,000 kowtows. To show greater piety, worshipers often complete these barefoot and sometimes for long periods at a time. We witnessed two women and their two children who kowtowed to one image for over half an hour. When we left they were still worshipping.
Throughout the festival there are numerous attractions of display for the visitors such as Tibetan performances, buttered lamp displays and, most importantly, drying the image of Buddha.
Ten o'clock in the morning of the 13th marks the start of the one-hour ceremony. A dozen lamas enter the square carrying an enormous Buddhist shrine. Horns sound and crowds of people, tens of thousands strong, gather round. Slowly, an image of Amitabha, measuring 50m by 20m , is uncovered and many in the crowd drop to their knees. Representatives from each Living Buddha's mansion then file past to pay homage to the image whilst false tigers jump around in the square. Buddhists come forward to offer hada.
Long after the ceremony was over, the Tibetans remained, exchanging greetings, bestowing blessings on each other and enjoying the rest of the festivities that world last for three more days. Though we only shared a few days. Though we only shared a few days with these devout people, the experience left a deep impression on us. We would like to join their compatriots in wishing them much happiness and good fortune.
Translated by JENNIFER LIM


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