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Buddhist monks welcome new year with
Mahakala ceremony
by Tashi Pradhan

     Rumtek (Sikkim): While people all around the world were celebrating the new year through partying in expensive restaurants or hotels, the Buddhist monks in Sikkim's Rumtek monastery, one of the largest monasteries in India, celebrated the arrival of new year in a distinct manner by organising a two- day long "Mahakala" ceremony. Wearing masks representing their guardian deities, Buddhists monks danced to the beats of the cymbal in a traditional ceremony to ward away evil and welcome the good spirits in the New Year during "Mahakala". It is generally performed on the 29th day of the 10th month of the Buddhist calendar, the colourful culmination of a seven-day ceremony of extensive prayer rituals for peace and harmony. "This dance is mainly for world peace and to destroy any evil in the world," said Phurba Bhutia, secretary of the Old Rumtek Monastery. Each dance begins with homage to the Gods with a deliberately slow movement of feet. The rhythm slowly picks up in the second stage and reaches a feverish pitch towards the end.Tibetan monks hold "Mahakala" in high esteem. It is considered as a preservation of the wisdom preached by Buddhist teachings. It is believed to annihilate ego and illusion from within the self. The headquarters of the Kagyupa sect of Tibetan Buddhism, the 250-year old Rumtek monastery, situated 24 kilometers from Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim. Many tourists from far off places from within the country and abroad visited this year's ceremony. "I would like to know more about the meaning (of the festival). I don't know enough though I can interpret few things, but that is about all. I know it's about purification and Mahakala and they are veryvery beautiful," said Sally, a visitor from the United Kingdom, who had arrived specially for the festivities. According to Buddhists texts, "Mahakala" is a manifestation of "Avalokiteshvara", Buddha of compassion. The main role of "Mahakala" is to fulfill the four enlightened activities--of pacifying interferences, increasing favorable circumstances, gaining control over situations and if all else fails destroying obstacles with wrathful force.
-Jan 4, 2006