Dosmoche

Dosmoche is an annual religious festival held in Leh to mark the end of the year according to the Tibetan Lunar calendar. It is held over two days, on the 28th and 29th days of the 12th month of the Tibetan Lunar calendar, usually in February. The festival marks the triumph of good over evil, calling upon the gods for their blessings and protection for the approaching year. Several monasteries in Ladakh send their monks to take part in the festival, from making the ritual torma (stor-ma) to performing masked dances and playing sacred instruments. At the centre of the celebrations is a large, colourful and intricate thread cross called ‘dosmo chenmo’ ('literally ‘large thread cross’), from which the festival acquires its name. Made by monks from Takthog Monastery, it is said that evil spirits get entangled in the complex web of this thread and later perish in the fire when the thread is burnt at the end of the second day of the festival. The festival is held in a courtyard (cham ra) below Leh Palace next to the Gompa Soma Monastery.