At The Time Of The
Variable New Year, The Lamas And Nuns Retire To The Monasteries, And
Dulness Reigns In The Valleys.
At the end of a month they emerge,
life and noise begin, and all men to whom sons have been born during
the previous year give chang freely.
During the festival which
follows, all these jubilant fathers go out of the village as a
gaudily dressed procession, and form a circle round a picture of a
yak, painted by the lamas, which is used as a target to be shot at
with bows and arrows, and it is believed that the man who hits it in
the centre will be blessed with a son in the coming year. After
this, all the Kylang men and women collect in one house by annual
rotation, and sing and drink immense quantities of chang till 10 p.m.
The religious festivals begin soon after. One, the worshipping of
the lamas by the laity, occurs in every village, and lasts from two
to three days. It consists chiefly of music and dancing, while the
lamas sit in rows, swilling chang and arrack. At another, which is
celebrated annually in every house, the lamas assemble, and in front
of certain gods prepare a number of mystical figures made of dough,
which are hung up and are worshipped by the family. Afterwards the
lamas make little balls which are worshipped, and one of the family
mounts the roof and invites the neighbours, who receive the balls
from the lamas' hands and drink moderately of chang.
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