Bodh Gaya: Reviving ancient Buddhist dance
At the Tergar monastery in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, the long queues are an indication of the event to follow - a rare performance of the Garchen Tscechu Cham, a sacred lama dance of the Kagyu Sect of Tibetan Budhism. It begins with an invocation which is believed to help purify the land. The music is played by a chanting master, their instruments coordinated with the meditative movement of the dancers. The dancers are the sect's most eminent monks, led by the absolute spiritual head of the Kagyu sect - the 17th Karmapa Trinley Dorjee. He has been living in exile in Dharamsala after he fled Tibet in 2004 at the age of 14.
