Ladakh celebrates Thiksay 'Gustor' with great devotion

By Stanzin Desal Thiksay, Nov 05, 2015
Thiksay :
The two-day Thiksay Gustor celebrated with great enthusiasm and devotion on 30th & 31st of October at Thiksay monastery. The day started with the grand religious ceremony attended by the monks of the monastery and hundreds of devotees.
 
Various mask dance (Chhams) were performed by the monks of the monastery. Over the past, one-week monks have been performing the special prayer for peace, prosperity and happiness to all human beings.

On the first day along with the chaams performance, the monastic oracle makes the public appearance. 

The oracle predicts the future of the coming year like natural calamities, crop yield, climatic condition etc and protects the Buddha Dharma and its practitioners. (The Monastic Oracle possesses the Holy Spirit which belongs to the pantheon of Buddhist deities.)

Dignitaries present on the occasions were MP Thupstan Chhewang, MLA-Leh, Nawang Rigzin Jora, MLA-Nubra, Deldan Namgyal, and SSP Dr.Sunil Gupta, newly elected councilors Dr. Sonam Dawa, Dorjey Mutup, Lobzang Nyantak, P. Wangdan, Morup Dorjey, Tsering Angchuk, PDP President Advocate Tashi Gyalson, DCC President Tsering Samphel and NC President Sonam Wangdus.

The two-day celebration ends with the ritualistic dispersal of the storma or the sacrificial cake by the leader of the Black Hat dancers, which symbolize the destruction of all form of evil.