Shey Festival 2024: A festival in the Spiritual Heart of Dolpo
From 1st September - 4th September, 2024
(2081/05/16 to 2081/05/19 BS)
The year 2024 is a very special year for Crystal Mountain (Shelri Dugdra).
Shey festival is an important festival that will be held in 2024 at the lap of Crystal Mountain (Shelri Drugda) in Upper Dolpo Nepal.
Dolpo is the land of Bon and Buddhism. As a land of Bon and Buddhism, every year every month, and in every season there are several festivals taking place in every village of Dolpo. Some festivals are celebrated in individual villages but some festivals are celebrated after a long time and it is celebrated communally. Shey Festival is among them which is celebrated after 12 years cycle.
In the Tibetan lunar calendar, there is a twelve-year cycle represented by different animals every year. The animals that represent the year are, Mouse, Bull, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Monkey, Bird, Dog, and Pig. And the year 2024 is the year of Dragon. The Dragon Year is the pilgrimage year of Crystal Mountain (Shey Ribo Drugta). On the occasion of Dragon Year every 12 years, there is a festival in Shey Gompa Upper Dolpo Nepal.
The last festival was held in August 2012 year of Dragon at Shey Gompa. This time it will be held in 2024 after 12 years. It is a very auspicious festival where all the Buddhist people from Himalayan areas participate in the festival. Dolpopas and people from the lower Dolpa area gather in Shey Gompa.
The festival starts from August 18th to 21st 2024. The first day of the opening ceremony is followed by different activities each day. There will be teaching by great lamas and Rinpoche along with cultural performances (Syabros) and traditional games such as horse racing and archery. 18th is a full day and it is an auspicious day to circumambulate (kora) around Shey Ribo Dugdra. Even some people circumambulate (kora) barefoot around Shey Ribo Drugta. It is believed that making circumambulate (kora) around the Shelri Dugdra will purify and cleanse sin and bad deeds. At the end of the festival, participants get blessings (Wangs) from honorable and renowned lamas
There are several important sites along the circumambulate (kora) trail. Every site has its own story and myth. While circumambulating around people build small stone fences. People believed that making the small fences were houses after death. The stones from the pilgrimage site are considered to be invaluable and sacred, and people preferred to take them to their homes.
Shelri Dugdra (Crystal Mountain)
Shey-crystal Mountain (Shelri Dugdra) is one of the Himalayan pilgrimages. It has a legendary connection with Buddhism. Located north of the Phoksundo Lake with an elevation of 4160m from sea level it is beautiful and bestowed with fascinating sceneries. His immense holiness Drubtop Singge Yeshe enlightened in Shey-Gonpa. The Crystal Mountain (Shelri Dugdra) is the major panoramic pilgrimage of Shey Gompa. The crystal mountain (Shelri Dugdra) is also known as the younger brother of Mt. Kailash.
History of Shey (Crystal Mountain)
The holiness of Crystal Mountain is based on legend. About 824 years ago, Drikung Kyobpa Jigten Gompo of the Kagyupa sect, one of the four major sects of Buddhism, once dreamt about the Shey area where he'd never been before. And he sent one of his most brilliant disciples to explore the Shey pilgrimage. Druptop Shinge Yeshe, as per his guru's order, left Tibet and entered Dolpo. He first saw Shey from Saikpa Kang of present Bhijer. When he found the people's supreme god was a wild mountain spirit. Drubtob meditated in the cave near the Shey and attained enlightenment.
According to the legend, he transformed his shawl into wings and flew to the top of Mount Shelri from where he saw Mount Kailash and he sang this verse:
Eh ma ho! I have arrived at the place predicted by my guru.
This mountain of great samaya
Is the residence of the body of mirror-like wisdom
And resonates with the song of the turquoise snow lion.
It is the space of the speech of discriminating wisdom,
Clear like a stūpa made of pure crystal.
It is the region of the mind of the wisdom of dharmadhātu
Where the three roots and the peaceful and wrathful deities dwell.
It is the source of all good qualities,
Blanketed with the three extraordinary representations.
This is the mountain abode of the activity of liberating beings.
After singing this song, Drobtob Sengge Yeshe was said to mount a lion and circle the mountain. He composed a guidebook to the mountain, titled Beneficial to Behold; An inventory of the Great Sit Shelri Drukdra ( Gnas Chen shel gyi ri bo ‘brug sgra‘i dkar chag mthong ba don ldan).
Then he tried to overcome fierce the mountain spirit, using the flying snow lion, a legendary companion of Snow Line as a mount but the spirit resisted by unleashing a horde of snake beings. However snow lion reproduces itself 108 times, once for each book of Buddhist scriptures, and with this reinforcement, Drutop vanquished the spirit and transformed him into a thundering mountain of purest Crystal’
“I flew through the sky on a snow lion and there among the clouds I perform miracles. But not even the greatest of celestial feasts can equal to once rounding on foot this crystal mountain.”
- Drobtob Sengge Yeshe
Heeding Drubtob’s words, the people of Dolpo gather during July/August before the barely harvest to circumambulate (kora) crystal mountain. On the full moon day, the throng begins its trek. Then celebrant scrapes rock dust from the sacred mountain and swallows it with water. The pilgrims cross a pass where the prayer flags are shaped in the wind, on the way to the circle of Crystal Mountain a glacial lake is located where the snow lion gamboled in victory; they joined hands and danced in a circle to the music of a lute. This ten-mile circuit ends in the cave where Drubtob Sengge Yeshe attained enlightenment and where the reliquary holds his ashes. There in the depths of the mountain, final prayers were murmured.
One day he was in a kora of Shey Ribudrukta on his lion, he felt thirsty and he thought of preparing some tea and he tried to make support from some stones around. But each stone he turned was carved 'Om', the holiest word. He regretted being on lion in such a holy pilgrimage and he made seven koras on his foot by the time he reached the top of Ribudrugta, he saw Mt. Kailash in Tibet as a bottom-up basket, that's why Shelri Dugdra is believed to be the younger brother of Mt. Kailash. Still now, if one makes seven koras of Ribudrugta, he can reach the top. Tuptup Shinge Yeshe started living in Shey making Komoche gompa (which is still in existence) not returning to Tibet and his fifth reincarnation is living at present. Komache Gonpa is now known as Shey-Gonpa.
There is a twelve-year cycle in the Buddhist calendar each year is represented by a different animal and each year with the importance of twelve different pilgrimages, which include Mt. Kailash in Tibet, Swayambhunath in Kathmandu, Shey in Dolpo, and many other places in the world. The Shey is a major pilgrimage in the Dragon year. The religious belief is that if one makes kora of Ribudrugta in dragon year equals visiting 11 rest of the major pilgrimages. Hence, there is a great festival for one week from the full moon of the seventh month in the Tibetan Calendar.
There are three Gompas in shey village such as Komoche Gonpa (valuable Gonpa), Shelsumdo Gompa, and Tsakhang gompa.
Monasteries in Shey
There are three important monasteries in Shey. They are Shelri Sumdo Monastery, Tsakhang Gompa, and Gomache Gompa. Tsakhang Gonpa and Shelsumdo Gonpa are Kagyu and Nyingma monasteries which are constructed by Lama Tenzin Repa. Tsakhang gompa and Gomache are located on the rock of Crystal Mountain. Shelri Sumdo Monastery is in the Shey village where Tsakhang and Gomache are 30 minutes and 45 minutes walking distance respectively from Shey village.Tsakang Gompa is a remarkable monastery that holds great cultural and spiritual significance. It is situated at an elevation of 4550 meters. The monastery is perched on a rock hill, offering breathtaking panoramic views of the surroundings.
Gomache is meditating hermitage. Now it looks like Gompa. It is believed that Kagyu honorable Druptop Singe Yeshe had meditated in Gomache. Komoche Gompa is the gompa where his immense holiness Dubtob Singge Yeshe had been solitary meditation on many years ago and which is located on the rock. This is a Kagyupa hermitage constructed by accomplished Sengeyeshe. It is also known as the stupa of ‘complete Victory’ and the footprints of master Sengge Yeshe are the key manifestations at this site.
Shey is not only a historical Buddhist holy place but also habitat of Himalayan wild animals such as blue sheep, snow leopards, marmots, wild rabbits, birds, Himalayan cats, and many more wild animals and birds. Hence, Shey is the major attraction of Shey-Phoksundo national park. As it is a holy place people do not hunt wild animals.
Shey Festival Trek 2024 is one of the rare opportunities to witness the Dolpo cultures in a bucket. This trek takes in the spiritual heart of Dolpo Shey Gompa and makes immerses in Dolpo culture and tradition. In this festival trek, you will have an opportunity to witness the Dolpopa people and their lifestyle.
Shey Kora (Crystal Mountain Circumambulation)
Shelri Kora is a circumambulation around Shelri Ribo Dugdra (Crystal Mountain) and is one of the central attractions of Shey Festival trek. In Tibetan, the sacred sites and places are called ne and a person doing kora is called ne korwa or nekora.
Kora is a practice performed by the person walking around the sacred sites. In Bon and Buddhism, it is believed that doing a kora around the sacred sites purifies the body, and mind to free oneself from delusions, negativity, and bad karma. There are two types of Kora, (i) Walking around and (ii) Full-body prostration
Walking around: This is the most popular kora. Here the practitioner simply takes beads (mani) or mani wheel and chants the mantra.
Full body prostration: This is high-level Kora where the practitioner stretches out the full length on the ground, marks the spot and he/she steps forward to that stop, before prostration again. To protect the hands and body from rough ground surfaces practitioners use leather gloves, aprons, and knee pads
In Bon and Buddhism, it is believed that circumambulation around sacred places or objects. However, the Kora of Bon and Buddhists is quite different. Buddhists circumambulate around right to left (clockwise direction) whereas Bon circumambulates left to right (anticlockwise direction). Some people attach wooden planks to make stretching easier. People make general kora and prostration kora around the Shey Ribo Drukta during the Shey Festival. So, Shey Kora, or circumambulation around Shey Ribo Drukta (Crystal Mountain) is a major attraction of the Shey Festival. Himalayan Companion's Shey Festival Treks include the full-day kora around Crystal Mountain.
Dolpo Shey Kora Map
Let's come join Himalayan Companion for this important festival - Shey Festival in lap of Shey Crystal (Shelri Dugdra) Festival 2024.
