The Karmapa's Birthday: The Cultural Exhibition

(This post has a lot of videos, but I'm including still photos for each of them, for those on slow internet or on devices which don't show the videos. However, still pictures of dances never really do justice, so I highly recommend checking them out.)

The Cultural presentation began with adorable small children from the monastery-run school singing the Indian national anthem. 

(some of the children are in costumes for performances they were going to do later, but most are in their uniforms)

Then one of the abbots from the Institute, who is also one of my students, gave a speech in Tibetan. The whole day was an interesting negotiation of languages, with most of the announcements being done in both English and Nepali (which is the lingua franca of Sikkim), but all important speeches done in Tibetan (and so incomprehensible to most of the people in attendance).

(the abbot)

During the abbot's speech it started to rain, and the crowd thinned visibly...

(hiding out under umbrellas)

...but by the time the first performance began the rain was almost completely gone, and the weather held until well after the last dance finished.

The first dance was a traditional nomad dance from Tibet.

And then out came the monks dressed as yaks!

(as part of the dance, the yaks attempted to pick up katag off of the ground using only their horns. with mixed success and much hilarity)

Next up was a traditional nepali dance by girls of the school.

And then a skit by the kids from the school, educating about environmental issues. The Karmapa is passionate about the environment, and so the monastery is starting to engage in educational efforts. It is still acceptable for people to throw trash on the ground and into the forrest, but I've been noticing that more and more people are starting to change this habit. I believe that a lot of the impetus is coming from the monastery.

(setting up for the skit; the table has a photo of the Karmapa on it)

Different children took on the roles of the different groups who live in Sikkim (Bhutia, Nepalese, Tibetans, Indians), and acted out cautionary environmental tales.

And then there was another traditional Tibetan dance!

And another Nepalese dance.

And then a performance by yours truly, who was asked to sing a few songs. 

(All of the performances were facing towards the prayer hall, because the VIPs were all sitting in front of the main doors. This meant that our backs were to most of the crowd while we were performing, but no one but me seemed to find this odd)

Next up, a monk of the Institute donned lay-clothing and performed a Hindi song, both to the delight of the crowd. 

And finally there was one last traditional Tibetan dance, with lay-women and monks of the Institute.

During the last performance, they set up a table of cakes. Because it's just not a birthday without cake.

In the absence of the Karmapa, a tulku (reincarnated lama) of the Institute sat in for things like the cutting of the cake and the blessing of attendees.

After the cake was cut, but before we ate, monks of the Institute and the monastery sang a song, and children of the school sang 'Happy Birthday.'

(cake!)

After cake, those laypeople who wished to do so came to receive a blessing from the young Rinpoche. This involved presenting him with a katag, which he then returned by draping it around their necks.

And finally, all of us who performed were asked to line up to receive a blessing, a katag, and a thank you present (100 rupees) from the monastery.

(monks and lay-women waiting in line)

(children of the school receiving their blessings and thank you gifts)

(dancers and me, with our katag draped about our necks)

(letting my friend be tall, because I'm nice like that)

And then the main events of the day were over, and the lay people began to get back in their taxis and leave Rumtek. The day was not, however, over for the smaller Rumtek community (lay and monk alike), but that will have to wait for the next post. You definitely won't want to miss it. Come for the karaoke, stay for the popping and locking.

And as always, I'd love to hear what you think!