|
Local residents watch a performance of the Tibetan Opera as part of the Shoton (Yogurt) Festival celebrations in Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, Aug. 24, 2009. Various kinds of activities and performances have been held for the traditional Shoton Festival which kicked off on Aug. 20. As a traditional festival, Shoton Festival is celebrated in the best season of a year in the forms of eating yogurt, appreciating Tibetan Opera and holding exhibitions of Buddhist statues.
Backgrounder
The Shoton (Sour Milk Drinking or Yogurt) Festival, held on the first day of the seventh month, was strictly a religious festival prior to the 17th century. Local religious tenets required monks to remain sequestered in their monasteries for extended periods, with local people preparing sour milk for them to drink following their period of confinement.
Tibetan opera was introduced in the mid-17th century and the Yogurt Festival also became known as the Tibetan Opera Festival which was celebrated on a regular basis.
Thereafter, all religious and recreational activities were held outside of monasteries. Norbu Lingka was built in the early 18th century as the summer residence of the Dalai Lama. Later, it became the venue for the Shoton Festival. Ordinary people have since been permitted to visit North Lingka festival day and the very same rituals remain the place even today.
|
