What is Cham Dance? The cham dance is a lively masked and costumed dance, a pratice associated with Mahayana Buddhism. The word Cham itself means Dance in Tibetan language. It’s a 1300+ years old dance also known as mask dance which has religious significance. It is performed by the monks during festivals and special events of the monasteries located mostly in the Himalayan region to transform evil for the benefit of the entire world and for the greater good of humanity. I got to witness this dance during the Gutor Festival at Dorje Drak Monastery in Shimla. I am quite frequent to this monastery in Shimla, can proudly say "It's my second home in Shimla" :)
History of Cham Dance
The Cham or Mask Dance has a very important and interesting history. It was during the 8th Century when the King of Tibet,Trishong Detsen called the Great Indian Guru of Buddhism "Guru Padmasambhava" and told the Guru about his interest in constructing a monastery in Tibet and how every single time just with the thought of the monastery, natural disaster takes place. The king and the locals felt the local God was not happy with the plan and thus natural disaster happens. They also feared the existence of evil spirits living in the air and the mountains. The Great Guru Padmasambhava then performed a pooja and a dance and it was while dancing, he rose so up in the air that wherever his shadow showed on the ground, became the boundary line for the monastery. Today, this monastery is known as Samye Monastery - the first monastery in Tibet and the dance became popular as Cham or Mask Dance.
In Buddhism it is believed that evil is something not outside us. It is our own ego. The deities are also represented in wrathful forms in order to show that evil comes from within. It is created by ignorance, anger, desire, jealousy, and ego. The nature of the mind is clear, but it is covered by the ego. Cham removes the ego from evil’s mind, allowing it to see clearly the path to transformation.
How Cham is performed?
Cham or Mask dance is performed in the form of chants, meditation, mantras and body movements. however, this form of dance is focused mostly on the hand gestures and mantras recited by the monks. I got to witness Cham during the Gutor Festival at the Monastery in Shimla during which the monks performed a 9 days pooja to invoke deity Yamantaka or Yamraj. Basically during the Pooja, the monks meditate and pray to surrender their personalities completely to be the deities.So during the cham performance, it is not the lamas who dance but the deities on the sacred ground to shower the blessings upon the whole universe.
I hope you enjoy watching this video on Cham or Mask Dance. It took me a lot of hard work, research and dedication to create this video cause it was totally a new topic for me. Please remember to Like, Comment, Share & Subscribe.
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