The two-day annual festival of Matho monastery, ‘Matho-Nagrang’ is celebrated with religious fervor on March 6 and 7.

The occasion had a blissful presence of His Holiness 43rd Sakya Trizin Vajra Rinpoche.

His Holiness explained the importance of celebrating the occasion. He also mentioned that out of all the Himalayan regions, the Ladakh community is the most informed regarding Buddhist philosophy and further stresses practicing compassion in all forms of life.

The festival falls on the 15th day of the first month of the Tibetan lunar calendar.  During this two-day festival, the monks performed a mask dance.

The popularity and fame of the Matho Nagrang festival lie in the fact that after two whole months of dedicated meditation in complete isolation, two oracles of the monastery known as ‘Rongstan’ appear among the public. Every third-year monk of the monastery is chosen to train and receive the spirit. They arrive at the courtyard of the monastery and accompany the masks monk dancers. These oracles also predict future events and people from different parts of Ladakh seek some advice from the oracles and perform certain rituals to handle disasters and other unpleasant happenings.

Lieutenant Governor Brig Dr. BD Mishra along with Jamyang Tsering Namgyal, MP, Ladakh; Stanzin Chospel, EC, LAHDC Leh; Tsering Dorjee Lakrook, Vice president, LBA and other dignitaries attended the festival.