Bumchu Festival
- Category
Art and culture
- Published
24th Mar, 2023
-
Context
Recently, the Bumchu Festival was celebrated in the Tashiding Monastery, located in the state of Sikkim.
About the Festival:
- Bumchu Festival is the Tashiding holy water vase ritualwhich is a unique and important occasion that draws travellers from all over the world.
- Annual performances of this ancient ceremony are held at the Tashiding Monastery, located in the western part of Sikkim.
- The Bumchu festival commemorates a supernatural occurrence that took place in the 18th century under Chogyal Chakdor Namgyal.
- Bumchu means “pot of sacred water” in Tibetan. The vase is opened during the event, and the water inside is shared among the worshippers.
- The water is thought to have healing qualities and to grant luck and riches to those who drink it.
- The celebration takes place on the 14th and 15th of the first lunar month, which often falls in February or March.
- In Sikkim, the Bumchu festival is a time of intense delight and celebration.
- At the event, pilgrims travel to Tashiding from all around India as well as from close by nations like Bhutan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.
Tashiding Monastery:
- It is one of the most sacred Buddhist pilgrimage sites, located on a hilltop overlooking the Rangeet River in Sikkim.
- Guru Padmasambhava, better known as Guru Rinpoche, the great Buddhist guru who brought Buddhism to Tibet, blessed the location of the monastery.
- A Nyingma teacher named Ngadak Sempa Chempo Phunshok Rigzing later founded the monastery in the 17th century.
|