Site Content

Nyungne is a practice where     people prostrate themselves repeatedly, praying to the god Chenrizi,     the god of compassion and recite the holy mantra Om mani padme ohm    innumerable times. The purpose of this is to win Chenrizi’s     attention and thereby get his blessing. Chenrizi is believed to be     very caring and sympathetic to the suffering of those devoted to him. It is     believed that this practice builds enormous merit for a better rebirth.     Those highly devoted even fast during the period.

The annual ManiRimdu festival is the most anticipated and talked about religious event in SoluKhumbu. Older Sherpas look forward to receiving a blessing from the Rinpoche, the monks look forward to ten days of non-stop prayers for their own spiritual purification and for the well being of all sentient beings, and children, adults, and trekkers all look forward to colorful masked ritual dancing.

ManiRimdu is performed annually during the full moon of the ninth Tibetan month, which usually is around mid-October to mid-December. The name ManiRimdu comes from mani, the prayers to Chenrizi, the god of compassion; ril, the little red food pellets which are distributed by monks; and du, the blessing of the pellets. Three days of hectic public events include the Rinpoche’s blessing ceremony, the masked ritual dances and a large bonfire on the third day. 

If ManiRimdu is the festival for   the whole world, then Dumji is the festival for the community. It promotes   the welfare of the community, a community puja. Dumji and ManiRimdu are   similar in many aspects. Both have colorful dances. The difference is no one gumba  will hold both ManiRimdu and Dumji.

It is believed that Ngawang Tile   Hlundup, a very powerful lama, started Dumji in the Thami Monastery. Many   lamas including Lama Gulu, the founder of Tengboche Monastery, studied under   him.

There are three rounds of   different dances in Dumji. In the first dance, the lamas appear as ngawa,   or tantric priests omnipotent in their frightening costumes. They control the   powerful spells that defeat demons and stab little effigies of demons called   linga in the first round of dance. In the second dance, the lamas dress like   gods that have come down to earth to help the community and the linga are   again symbolically defeated. In the last dance, the effigies of demons are   run out of town by lamas. Some are left in the edge of the hills as food (in   a symbolic gesture) for other demons and for villagers to destroy. All of   this drama is presented in the sounds of blaring horns and conch shells,   clashing cymbals and pounding of drums. Children, adult and old remain rapt   by the drama in front of them.

The Sherpas essentially follow the Tibetan lunar calendar with years repeating in twelve year cycles. Losar (Lo = year, Sar = new) is the Sherpa new year festival that usually falls during March-April. Losar is celebrated with much fanfare bringing family members together. The family altars are decorated and delicious foods are prepared, offered to gods and then eaten amongst family members with much laughter and fun. Sherpas in various parts of the world often get together to celebrate Losar in the traditional way.

Each year is associated with an animal. The present year is 2130, the Luk (Sheep) Year.

Traditionally, Sherpas identify their date of birth by the year they were born. Thus, someone born in the tiger year is said to be ‘born in the tiger year’ as opposed to having been born in a numerical year, such as 1974. Tiger year is then called the lorta (year) of the person. The twelve years that form each cycle is as follows:

1. Ta          Horse
2. Luk        Sheep
3. Te          Monkey
4. Chya      Bird
5. Ki           Dog
6. Fak       Pig
7. Chiwa    Mouse
8. Lang       Ox
9. Tak         Tiger
10. Heu        Rabbit
11. Duk        Dragon
12. Dhul      Snake

It is believed inauspicious for people of particular lortas to be married. However, such beliefs are not strongly held by the younger generations of today as pre-arranged marriages are slowly giving way to western type ‘love’ marriages.