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GREAT PRAYER FESTIVAL – Amdo, Tibet
Known as the Great Prayer Festival, the Monlam Festival is one of the most significant Tibetan Buddhist celebrations, bringing together pilgrims, monks, and visitors from across the region. Established by Tsongkhapa in 1409, it takes place during the first month of the Tibetan lunar calendar (typically spanning February to March). In the Amdo region (spanning parts of present-day Qinghai, Gansu, and Sichuan), the festival is celebrated with unique cultural fervor. Major monasteries like Labrang Tashikyil and Rongwo Gon Chen (Rebkong) host a number of vibrant traditions.
Sunning of the Buddha (Thangka Unveiling) is where monks and pilgrims carry a monumental, multi-story Thangka painting of the Buddha up a hill to unfurl it across the mountainside for public worship. Monks wearing elaborate, traditional masks and vibrant costumes perform sacred Cham dances to drive away evil spirits and bring peace for the new year. Intricate, colorful, and highly detailed sculptures made of yak butter are displayed. A grand statue of the Future Buddha (Maitreya) is paraded around the monastery circumambulatory route, followed by thousands of colorfully dressed pilgrims.
