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The Spitok Gutor Zanskar Festival is an annual festival that is held for two days at various monasteries all over Ladakh. This festival marks the victory of good over evil. This festival is specially observed in the monasteries of reformist Geluk- pa order of Tibetan Buddhism in India; some of them being Spituk, Thiksay, and Karsha.
Spitok Gutor Zanskar stands for ‘Sacrifice of the 29th Day’. The major event of the festival is the black hat dance. In the dance the assassination of the King Lang-Dar-Ma is in 9th century by a Buddhist monk is shown. The black hat dancers also wear a mask. The celebration is brought to an end by ‘argham’. A sacrifice cake is cut to mark the end of the celebration too.
History of Karsha Gustor Festival
Karsha Gustor Festival celebrates the victory of the spirit of goodness over evil forces. This festival is celebrated by the renowned Yellow Hat order monks or the Gelupka order monks who have established their own monastery called the Karsha Monastery on the Zanskar mountain ridges which lie alongside the Padum Plains. Zanskar is a sparsely populated region and the Zanskar Monastery in comparison contains a robust number of Monks.
The Karsha Monastery is located at a picture perfect location which lies about 12 km away from Padum which is the capital of Zanskar. The festival is called Karsha Gustor as it is held in “Karsha†Monastery and consists of “GUSTOR†or charm infused sacred dances mostly to drive off the evil spirits and celebrate the birthday of Tsongkha-Pa who was the illustrious founder of Gelupka order. Another meaning of Gustor is sacrifice on the 29th day. This is why the Gustor festival which is an indicator of progressive Buddhism is held in Spituk, Karsha and Thiksey Monasteries with the same purpose but at different times of the year.
Kashmir is the crown state of India. It is rich in culture and diversity. Although it is known for Islamic culture, Kashmir also has a fair population of Hindus, who celebrate their festivals with much joy and ado. Along with celebrating national festivals like Diwali and Holi, Kashmir has its own local festivals. These are conducted by the local groups and people irrespective of their religious views take part in them. Some of these festivals like the Hemis festival is treated as national holiday to ensure everyone takes part in it. Such is the importance of festivals to bring people together. In this article, we shall explore some of the popular festivals in Kashmir.
