DHARAMSHALA: The Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA), the premier institute for Tibet’s unique artistic heritage of opera, dance, and music, is gearing up to host the 20th Tibetan Opera (Shoton) festival.
” His Holiness the Dalai Lama will grace the opening ceremony of the festival, which is slated for 27 March. The festival will conclude on 5 April with a final performance by the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts, on the life of Lord Buddha,” Mr. Wangdue Tsering, Director, TIPA, said.
“This year’s festival will see 12 different troupes of performers from India and Nepal, presenting opera performances on various traditional folklores including public favorites such as Nangsa Woebum, Sukyi Nyima, Drowa Sangmo etc. The participating troupes include opera associations from THF Mussorie, Kalimpong, Mundgod, Kollegal, TCV Chauntra, Odisha, Bandara, Bylakuppe, and Mainpat from India, and, Solukumbu and Kathmandu from Nepal,” he added.
Shoton festival
The Tibetan Opera (Shoton) festival is a centuries-old tradition, which has its roots in ancient India. When Buddha’s teaching flourished in ancient India, monks were not allowed to go out and beg for alms, especially during the summer season. The sponsors, devotees and patrons instead would pay visit to the monasteries and make offering in form of milk and curd.
This tradition later made its way into Tibet especially Drepung monastery, where they observe summer retreat month (Tib: Yarne) and monthly purification practice (Tib. Sojong) and solitude (Tib: Ghag ye). Following these retreats, the monastery offers yoghurt to the monks who have successfully maintained the decorum during the Retreat Session. Thus this celebratory event came to be known as Drepung Shoton (Drepung Yoghurt Festival).
The festival later became associated with Tibetan opera in the 15th Century when popular opera troupes of the time including Gyalkhara, Kyormulunpa, Dri Ghungwa, Shangpa and Chungpa, were invited to perform at the courtyard of Norbulingka, during the commemorative enthronement anniversary of His Holiness the Great Fifth Dalai Lama.
Revival in Exile
In 1959, after the brutal invasion of Tibet by Communist China, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama went into exile in India along with eighty thousand Tibetans.
On 11 August 1959, under his guidance and vision, the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts was established to sustain and promote Tibetan theatrical and musical heritage, which continued to face threats of survival in occupied Tibet.
In accordance with His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s advice, in 1993, for the first time in exile, the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts organised the First Grand Shoton Opera Festival. The festival saw the participation of five different opera troupes from various settlements. Over the years, the festival grew in prominence both in scale and quality, as new opera associations started mushrooming across Tibetan settlements in India and Nepal.
