Masked Dance Festival, Phyang Monastery | Photos of Ladakh

Photo of a masked dancer wearing a fierce mask with skulls & fangs at the Cham dance at Phyang monastery.

An old photo from our first trip to Ladakh. In between couple of treks we went to see the Cham dance festival at Phyang. The grainy quality of the image reminds me of my first impressions of Ladakh.

The Cham dance festivals combine music, theatre, drama and humour. Great care is taken to faithfully convey the spirit of the traditional enactments of the triumph of good over evil in Buddhist Ladakh. Yet the silk brocade costumes are worn and threadbare.

Landscape format.

A guide to approx sizes
A3: paper size 42x29.7cm, image size 40x28cm
A2: paper size 59.4x42cm, image size 57x40cm
 

Photo by Silk Road director Peter Bennion, 2004.