Leh (Jammu and Kashmir), Jan 04 (ANI): Thousands of people thronged at Spituk monastery to witness the yearly two-day festival popularly known as Spituk Gustor in Leh on January 03.
This festival is famous for victory of good over evil which was started in the 11th century. During this festival monk from different monasteries such as Stok, Sankar, Saboo and Spituk congregate at the monastery for world peace and prosperity. The monks wore the masks of religious deities and performed the dance which represents the Protector, Guardian, Gods and Goddesses and mythological stories related to the Buddhism. The celebration ends with the dismemberment and dispersal of the ‘Storm’ (sacrificial cake) by the leader of the Black Hat dancers in a ceremony called ‘Graham’ of ‘Killing’. This symbolises the destruction of all forms of evil and is also a re-enactment of the assassination of the Tibetan apostate King Lang-dark-ma, by a Buddhist monk in the mid 9th century. During the first day of the festival a Thanka of Gawa Yaptsars Sum was open for devotees. There is a statue of Goddess Kali which is open to public only on the Gustor Festival and people spent hours in unending queues to get the glimpses of Mahakali Statues whose faces remain covered throughout the year except during festival.
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