Lha-ba, Mountain God Amyes-magpa, who is temporarily manifested in a human medium, holding his hair and a knife with his teeth after cutting his forehead.
Summer is a festive season in Rebgong, Amdo region on the Tibetan plateau, and Klu rol (Lürol) ཀླུ་རོལ། festival is held yearly in many Tibetan villages and a few Monguor villages between June sixteenth and the twenty-fifth of the lunar calendar. My village, Gling-rgyal (AKA Langjia) is one of the most known sites for this folk culture.
Langjiais a tribe that made of seven distinctive community groups. It has about 370 households and a population of 3,000. The term Yar-stod (upper portion) refers to the three sub-villages on the east, and Smad-stod (lower portion) refers to the four sub-villages on the west side. Therefore, there are two Lha-ba (mediums), Amyes-magpa and Amyes-lhari, representing the two parts of the tribe.
My brother Dpal-ldan (Huadan) and Kevin Stuart described the festivity in their Perilous Novelties, “It is perceived to be a time of recreation, not only for local villages but also for mountain gods that loom large in local folk religious beliefs and rituals. During the festival, villagers delight the mountain gods and beseech two male village trance mediums (Lha-ba), who represent mountain gods while they are possessed, to bestow bumper harvests and protect their livestock from calamities. The Lha-ba are thus responsible for exorcizing evils that are damaging to the villagers.”
Lerol is a three-day affair for the public but five days by the hosting village group. I’m sharing this ritual in two posts.
Women from our village, Ru-zhol-ma (Rixuma) welcome Lha-ba, Amyes-lhari.
Sang (or bsang of conifer branches, grains and silk clothing) and rlung rta/lungta Tibetan Wind Horse offerings.
Inner players from the host village/group performing inside the large circle of outer dancers.
Young men, outer dancers, pierced through the cheek by the Lha-pa, Amyes-magpa.
Audience corner from the back.
Boy dancers from the hosting village/group take part in the procession.
Two Lha-ba, Amyes-lhari and Amyes-magpa, perform “goodbye” at the end of the day.
Continue part two of the ritual at Tibetan ‘Klu rol’ Festival in My Village — Part II
These pictures and this story are amazing Jolma!!!! Thank you so much for sharing these!!!!!
Beautiful Jolma! What a beautiful celebration for your people and labor of love on your part.
Jolma, your villagers look great, especially your cousins. Super photography. Thanks for sharing.
Cordially,
Larry
Thank you everyone for sharing your thoughts.
Awesome insight to a local festival. You are in Tibet for the summer, Jolma? I love the quality of your photos and the explanations of these precious festivals. Do young people understand them, as well as older and middle aged people?
Hi Globalmaddy,
I was home a couple of summers ago, and the photos of the lurol festival were from that trip. Yes, young Tibetans should understand the purpose of the summer festivity as we celebrate every year. They are the ones the dance, and others participate in it somehow.
Thank you for stopping by,
Jolma