MANGTHO NAGRANG

Mangtho Nagrang is the only major establishment in Ladakh dedicated to the Sakya lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. Matho Nagrang, annual spiritual festival of the monastery, is famed across the Himalayan region and beyond. Celebrated on 14th and 15th of the first month of Tibetan lunar calendar.The festival is also known as the Oracle Festival. It is a five-century-old ritual that involves two oracles, known as Rongtsans. The Rongtsans employ ordained monks as their medium. They meditate at least two months in isolation to make themselves conducive for the oracles to transcend in. They perform astounding supernatural feats such as running on the roof parapets of the monastery with steep drops of the mountain on which it’s perched, jumping on the corners of the tall monastery walls, cutting themselves with swords and so on. The next day, they display such unbelievable acts completely blindfold.