Gangtok, Dec 5
On the auspicious occasion of Kagyed Dance,Chief Minister Pawan Chamling and Tika Maya Chamling have extended warm greetings and best wishes to the people of Sikkim.
CM said, Kagyed Dance or ‘Chaam’ is another Buddhist festival unique to Sikkim. It is a celebration marked by masked monks and lamas performing some rigorous dance moves, symbolizing destruction of all the evil and negative forces, thereby bringing in peace and prosperity for one and all in the upcoming new year. Various important scenes from Buddhist mythology are enacted during this dance, which eventually comes to a closure by burning of effigies made with flour, wood and paper. The festival is not only held in high regards by the locals but, also by international tourists who believe in teachings of Buddha and find seeing this dance as an eternal blessing. The history of ‘chaam’ dates back to the times of Guru Padmasambhava, the founder of Tibetan Buddhism in Sikkim, who is said to have performed this dance to vanquish a demon from this holy land. A number of variants of these dances are performed on different festivals, with one thing remaining common in all i.e. the masks representing scores of human, deities and animal faces enacting an interesting story from Buddhist mythology.The most popular venues of Kagyed Dance are the old Rumtek Monastery, Phodong Monastery and the Tsuklakhang Palace Monastery, where celebrations commence two days prior to the onset of the Losoong Festival. The most important highlight of this festival is the elaborate getup of the monks, decked up in ornate costumes, vibrant painted masks and laced with ceremonial swords and other weapons, jumping and swaying to the rhythm of echoing drums and trumpeting horns swiftly and gracefully in perfect coordination with their fellow dancers. Yet another important highlight of Kagyed Dance is the burning of effigies in the concluding part, symbolizing the victory of good over evil.