Filmed by Rin chen Rdo rji on the seventh day of the sixth lunar month, 2003 in Bde chen Village (a large village consisting of five smaller, natural villages), Nengke Township, Jianzha County, Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai, PR China. In mid-summer beginning on the fifteenth day of the sixth lunar month, farmers picnic in tents decorated with auspicious symbols provide shelter for more than five days. People feast on meat, meat-stuffed dumplings, and yogurt, and enjoy impressive quantities of Qinghai barley liquor and beer. At dawn of the first day, young men go on the horseback to renew labste on mountaintops. When the sun rises, motorcyclists set out in pairs to welcome a prominent lama from Lamo Deqing Monastery, the largest religious institution in the Jianzha area, to initiate the renewal of the major labste in the vicinity of the village. Following an enormous incense offering, the lama, the monk steward, and the lead chanter each toss kathags one after another onto the labste. A crowd stands chanting prayers nearby. Once the lama stands aside after a session of chanting, the crowd climbs onto walls and wedges ten-meter-long wooden arrow shafts into the labste frame. Next, the crowd makes another enormous incense offering and circumambulates the labste, while tossing rlungrta (wind horses) in the air simultaneously. Subsequently, the lama is seated on his throne and lays his palm on the heads of people who stand in line to see the lama face to face. All sorts of games and other entertainment begin the following day. On the third day, an archery competition held. The video features orations, singing, and drinking at the camp-/ archery ground.

plus-circle Add Review

comment

Reviews