At Ladakh’s Karsha Monastery, nestled in the Zanskar valley known for the famous Chadar trek, some 230 kilometres from Kargil, Buddhist monks are busy preparing for the annual monastic festival — Karsha Gustor.
They are assembling their vibrant, silk attire and grand, emotive masks to be donned during the Cham dance performance — the key highlight of the two-day celebrations beginning on July 15. In Tibetan, ‘Gu’ means nine and ‘stor’ means the religious structure through which obstacles are driven away, explains Lama Phuntsok Wangpo, secretary of the monastery.
