Monlam
The Tibetan festival of Mönlam or Mönlam Chenmo (Tib .: smon lam chen mo ), the celebration of the Tibetans' Great Prayer shortly after the Tibetan New Year ( Losar ), is their biggest religious event of the year. It goes back to a tradition founded by Tsongkhapa in 1409 from the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism .
Usually from January 4th to 11th according to the Tibetan calendar , in the three large monasteries of Lhasas from January 3rd or 4th to January 25th according to the Tibetan calendar, Buddhist monks from the Jokhang gather in front of the Shakyamuni image in the shrine monasteries Drepung , Sera and Ganden and other pilgrims who perform prayers, recite and debate sutras . Exams for the Geshe title (the highest scholarly degree in Tibetan Buddhism ) are held.
The highlight is the "sunbathing of the Buddha" ceremony, during which a 30 × 20 m thangka with a Buddha image is unrolled on the slope of a hill.
It is also celebrated in the Labrang and Rongwo Gönchen monasteries in Amdo . Several smaller Tibetan festivals take place during this festival, including the Festival of the Release of Captured Animals on the 8th and the Butterlamp Festival ( Chötrul Düchen ) on January 15th according to the Tibetan calendar.
See also
Web links
- Monlam
- Great Prayer Festival - English
Chinese web links
References and footnotes
- ↑ Chinese names for the Great Dharma Gathering are 传召 大法 会 , Chuanzhao dafahui , 祈愿 大法 会 , Qiyuan Dafahui and (after Tibetan) 莫朗钦波 节 , Molang Qinbo jie .
- ↑ chinaculture.org ( memento of March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ): Chuanzhao Dafahui (found on November 7, 2009) - The festival is of different lengths in different areas and takes place on different days, see note (" Note ") in chinaculture.org ( memento of September 6, 2009 in the Internet Archive ): Great Prayer Festival (found on November 7, 2009)
- ↑ Chinese 展 佛 曬 唐卡 , zhan Fo shai tangka .
- ↑ chinaculture.org ( memento of September 6, 2009 in the Internet Archive ): Chuanzhao Dafahui (found on November 7, 2009). To unroll a thangka, see photos ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. from the Shoton Festival in Drepung Monastery - tw.myblog.yahoo.com (found on November 7, 2009)
- ↑ Chinese 放生 节 , Fangshengjie
- ↑ Chinese 酥油 灯节 , Suyou dengjie , 酥油花 灯节 , Suyou huadengjie , 花灯 节 , Huadengjie
- ↑ The "Three Great Prayer Meetings in the History of Tibetan Buddhism" are the Fire Dragon Year Prayer Meeting , Chumig Chökhor and Monlam Chenmo .
