Shoton ceremony: unveiling a vast thangka of the Buddha at Drepung monastery, Lhasa, on August 6
photo: savetibet.org
Buddhist devotees, including monks and nuns, were almost outnumbered this year by paramilitary personnel during the Shoton or “Yoghurt” festival in Lhasa. The traditional unveiling of the 1,480 square metre thangka (religious painting) of the Buddha at the 600 year old Drepung Monastery on August 6 was heavily guarded, forcing many to view the ceremony at a distance or not at all.
Scanners and metal barricades had been constructed, and about a thousand armed guards were deployed in the monastery and on the hillside where the thangka was displayed. Images circulating amongst Tibetans on social media show the presence of these troops, whereas those on Chinese official sites show only the worshippers and the thangka, and no armed personnel.
The Shoton festival has been celebrated since the 17th century, and is named after the tradition of laypersons offering yoghurt to Buddhist monks after their annual summer retreat.
Chinese reports of the festival paint it as a successful tourist event, boasting of staged Tibetan operas with modern audio-visual effects, calligraphy and thangka exhibits, and even the widening of the road leading to the monastery for easy access to tourists.
Military troops at Shoton ceremony
photo: savetibet.org
However, the Tibetans have described the event more as a “battle zone” than a joyous religious festival. They say they preferred watching the operas as they had been traditionally performed, with indigenous instruments and in village squares.
The Shoton festival has been used by Tibetans to express dissent since the late 1980s and early ‘90s. In 1993 four monks carried Tibetan flags and shouted out slogans of “Long Live the Dalai Lama”, and in 1990 twelve nuns were imprisoned in Drapchi prison after they had taken part in a protest during the Shoton festival.
Shoton ceremony
photo: savetibet.org
The Tibetan refugee community in Dharamsala, India has in the past celebrated the festival with special prayers and opera performances at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts, however this year no celebrations took place in view of the self-immolations which have now reached 121.
Print
Email