Monlam Chenmo (Great Prayer Festival) · Monlam Chenmo

Culture of origin: Buddhist · Cultural

Holiday sources: Buddhism

Monlam Chenmo, the Great Prayer Festival, was founded in Lhasa by Tsongkhapa in 1409. Thousands of monks from the great monasteries of Drepung, Sera and Ganden gathered at the Jokhang Temple to chant and perform rituals; the examinations for the highest monastic degree, Geshe Lharampa, were held during the week, with cham dances and large butter sculptures. Under Chinese rule it was not held in Lhasa after 1959 and was forbidden during the Cultural Revolution. It returned in 1986; at the festival of 5 March 1988 a revolt broke out in Lhasa that cost three lives by Chinese figures and thirty by the Tibetan opposition's, and after further demonstrations, with prayers for the Dalai Lama and symbols of independence, the Lhasa city government suspended the festival in 1990. Monlam is kept by the Tibetan monasteries re-established in exile in India.