Dosmoche


Dosmoche is a festival celebrated in Ladakh, India. It is celebrated in Leh, Likir and Diskit monasteries. It is the last festival of New Year Celebrations, other one is Losar. The two-day Dosmoche festival is a gazetted holiday for Leh district and Zanskar Sub Division. Dosmoche is also known as the "Festival of Scapegoat" and is one of Ladakh's most popular prayer festivals.

History

Dosmoche was started by the rulers of Ladakh. The festival was started during kingdom of King Lhachen Gongdup/ Lha-chen-Dnos-grub. He fought two battles with invaders from Nyungti to inhibit the exterminatory forces of the battles. Sacred mask dances which is known as Cham dance are carried out in the courtyard of the old chapel. It is below the gates of the Leh Palace. Lamas are drawn from different monasteries from across Ladakh on a rotation basis for this festival.

Celebrations

High pitched sound of gyaling with the periodic sound of the cymbals echoed off the bare rocky slopes with the rhythmic beats of the drum. Monks looks attractive in multicoloured robes and various masks which represent the forms of various deities including Buddha. They danced to the beats with colorful fluttering surge to ward off evil and welcome universal peace and happiness. mask dances is an essential part of Tantric tradition of Mahayana Buddhism.
At a one-kilometre stretch from Moti-Market to the other end of Leh Bazaar thousands of stalls are also famous in two-day long festival. Thousands of people in colourful dresses got together at Leh bazaar for games like tambola and lotteries and shopping.

Schedule

Since Ladakh follows the Tibetan lunar calendar and Dosmoche festival comes on the twenty-eighth and twenty ninth and day of the twelfth month Tibetan calendar, every year the festival falls on a different date of the Gregorian calendar.
YearDate
201427–28 February
201517–18 February
20166–7 February
201724–25 February
201813–14 February
20192–3 February
202021–22 February

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