Cham

“The very core of the dances is to be a representation of
the activity of the mind essence beyond conceptual thinking.”
His Holiness Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang Rinpoche

"Through cham we are trying to destroy evil with love and compassion."
Lopon (Abbot) Thupstan Standin

Shava (Deer) Dancer

Durdag Dancer - Keeper of the cemetery

High in the Himalayas, in Bhutan, Tibet, Nepal, and India, and across the steppes of Mongolia,
Buddhist monks in medieval monasteries hold sacred festivals once a year, during which they perform 1,300-year-old mystical dances, collectively called cham, in order to transform evil for the benefit of the entire world.

The monks meditate for days and even weeks beforehand, visualizing and invoking protective deities.
Then they stage elaborate performances during which, visualizing themselves as deities, performing ancient movements, and repeating sacred mantras (invocations), they draw in the evil in the crowd and the surrounding world.

The evil is trapped in an effigy, a human body made of dough. At the climax of the ceremony, the dance master (called a chamspon) cuts open the effigy and draws the evil into his own body to show it peace and the path to liberation, thus transforming it.

A Black Hat dance in Bhutan

click here for:
A Sacred Teaching on Cham by His Eminence Togden Rinpoche of the Drikung Kagyupa

"The performing of cham not only destroys all obstacles to Dharma and its people,
it also purifies and blesses the whole earth.
These dances leave powerful karmic imprints in the minds of the people
who observe them."
Drupon (Master Teacher) Sonam Kunga

Chosgyal, in female form - a main protector of the Gelukpa sect

Wrathful Demons

"We show the same form as the evil so the evil can feel fear. The protective deities take a wrathful form in order to scare evil."
Khenpo (Scholar) Konchok Namdak

The deities are also depicted in wrathful forms in order to show that evil comes from within. Evil does not exist externally, it comes from within the mind. Evil is created by ignorance, anger, desire, jealousy, and ego. The nature of the mind is clear, but it is covered by the ego, as clouds cover the sun. Cham removes the ego from evil's mind, allowing it to see clearly the path to transformation.

The Buddha showed different paths to liberation, so different people could understand. Some people better understand a peaceful form; some better understand a wrathful form. So in cham deities take on several forms. But, however wrathful the deities may appear outwardly, inwardly they are filled with love and compassion for all sentient beings.

“With the help of Cham, people can know the role of gods and devils,
and understand the fruits of good and bad work."
Lopon (Abbot) Konchok Namgyal

In the middle is Durthot, a deity responsible for good fortune and wealth - flanked by Buta (left) and Barta (right) two of the eight protectors of the Sakyapa sect

Buddhist scholars believe that through cham people can recognize gods in heaven, which they will encounter after death; knowing which gods to trust in the afterlife will help one to find rebirth in a good life.

After death, the soul does not immediately take birth. It moves here and there in the world for some days. During this period it comes across many gods and spirits; with the help of Cham, the soul will know which gods will help select the right path for taking a new birth.

Cham is a branch of Tantra When lamas practice tantra with corresponding hand positions, this is called cham. Original cham performances included little footwork; monks in costumes and masks walked slowly about the monastery grounds, making intricate mudras. Only in later times did movements of the lower body - steps - develop.

Tantra is a powerful and secret practice.
Many sources say that in the beginning cham's mystical and magical essence was strictly kept from any spectators, and even the greater part of the monks. Later on cham performances began to be held in public, usually occurring once a year and gathering crowds of thousands. However, in some strict monasteries in Tibet cham remained a secret practice into the beginning of the 20th century.

Cham dances are tantric yoga rites which include prescribed meditation techniques.
There is a process from visualization in the mind to actualization in the body.
Cham requires complete mental concentration upon, and identification with, the deity being visualized.

The Geylong (monk) dance

Throughout the dance the dancers and their masks and their costumes are being ritualistically blessed.
They pray, asking for blessings to invite Mahakala and other gurus to the festival to provide blessings.

A stag dancer at the Matho Nagrang festival, Matho Monastery

Cham was first performed around 760-770 AD by the Indian saint Padmasambava, who was invited to Tibet by king Trishong Detsen to combat evil spirits obstructing the building of Samye monastery. Each night evil spirits would tear down the day's work.

Padmasambhava drew thiks - lines invoking his spiritual or tantric power, which evil spirits are not allowed to cross - in all directions. He covered the ground with five coloured threads, put on a janak dress and performed tantric mudras while invoking the Chamara god.

Some sources say that after this first performance, cham gradually spread to all important Tibetan monasteries. Other sources say few other cham dances occurred until Guru Choswang (1212-1270) saw Padmasambava in a dream. In his dream he saw eight figures with amazing faces. When he awoke he drew the eight faces, had masks made in their likeness, and charged eight monks to walk around with the masks on. The people of the village were amazed and gave large donations of butter and other commodities. Other monasteries heard about the performance and followed suit.

History of Cham

"In those days the Cham was an entirely secret art;
only tantric siddhas performed the Cham or tantric mudras (hand gestures)."
Lopon Konchok Namgyal

The origin and ancient history of cham is difficult to trace. The word chams is of Tibetan origin and means “a dance.” But cham's root as a religious and social phenomenon can be found in India, where, since times immemorial, actors have put on special masks and costumes, and performed as gods and demons.

Ancient Indian literature tells of the sacred dance called Ger performed by the dakinis when the Kalachakra lesson was taught. Cham is a Tantric ritual, and Tantra itself developed in ancient India, in the region of modern day Pakistan. Many elements of cham can be traced to roots in Hinduism, and in the Bon tradition (the spiritual tradition of Tibet prior to Buddhism).

Mahakala (Sanskrit) or Gonbo (Tibetan) one of the most important protector deities

In spite of Pelgyi Dorje's story, cham is non-violent - the weapons are symbolic. Here the sword symbolizes wisdom slicing through ignorance.

Another interesting and popular story
is about the dancing monk Pelgyi Dorje. The Bon King Langdarma (838-842) was destroying Buddhism, and Pelgyi Dorje, while meditating in a mountain retreat, was inspired kill him. He smeared a white horse, and himself, with coal, then put on a fur coat inside out. He tucked a bow and arrow in the long sleeves of his cham dress and rode to Lhasa.

There are several versions to the story. In one, Pelgyi Dorje found the king in a tower with a single window. He began performing cham dances, the spectacle of which drew the king to the window allowing Pelgyi Dorje to get off a shot. In another version the king's courtiers watched the dance and were so entranced they begged the king to come and watch, allowing Pelgyi Dorje to shoot his arrow.

After the assassination Pelgyi Dorje fled. Once away from the city he rode into a lake (or river, depending on the version), washing away the coal from himself and his horse, (turning his black face and black horse white). He then turned his jacket right-side out and got away.

Some cham dances are the products of mystical visions or dreams where an entire dance in all its detail would appear, often in a dream, to a great leader. The introduction of new dances is rare, and its occurrence is historically significant.

Likir gompa in Ladakh

The practice of Cham was once most widespread in Tibet, but continues today in a relatively pristine culture in the kingdom of Bhutan. Cham also is practiced in Mongolia and the Indian regions of Ladakh and Zanskar.

Cham Today

Nowadays, cham attendance is at an all time high, both amongst locals and tourists.

Every inch of space is packed during Likir Dosmoche

However, Buddhist elders speak of old times when people would sit perfectly still, without speaking, through the entire performance. Now many people treat the rituals more like concerts or fairs; many people move around during the performance, and talk on cell phones, and just beyond the walls at several festivals is a thriving market of hawkers and food vendors, with lotteries offering prizes of cell phones and home appliances, and gambling tables drawing large crowds. In Ladakh, some young locals show up for the fun times outside and never even go in the monastery to see the dance. Many older Ladakhis have stopped going to the festivals all together, bothered by the crowds, and the ways the festivals have changed.

Cham is in grave danger

The single-greatest threat to cham, and to Vajrayana Buddhism, according to Buddhist leaders, teachers, scholars, and monastery abbots, is the declining number of monks. Fewer children are becoming monks. The local population in many Himalayan regions is decreasing; young people, even in areas with strong economies, like Ladakh India, are finding it more difficult to support large families so are having fewer children. When families were larger, it was easier to send a boy to the monastery. Now, with only one or two children, families are holding on. Many leaders, scholars, and dance masters guess that cham will mostly fade away within the next 100 years.

A young monk of the Drikung Kagyu

Ancient dances are not written, but passed from person to person.
Many dances now exist only in the bodies of a few elderly men.
If not passed on or documented, cham may disappear forever.

A Note from the Director
by Joseph Houseal

The continued existence of ancient dance traditions in the 21st century is not something we should take for granted.
That an entire canon with many variations throughout the Tibetan Buddhist regions of the Himalaya continues is something of a miracle. Cham, if originating with the domination of Buddhism in Tibet in the 7th century, is at least 1,300 years old.
I am convinced it pre-dates the arrival of Buddhism and may be much older. No records or histories exist between the Padmasmbhava origin story dating to that time and the 12th century, when the first Drikung Kagyu dance text was written.

And so much is unknown about this mysterious, powerful and contemplative dancing. What are the ancient sources of this dance? Where did the knowledge come from to imbue it with such powers? It is complex and sophisticated; raw and u-theatrical at the same time. The ability of Cham to connect so deeply with the human psyche that it communicates still today is a testimony to a power that is fundamental and essential, if not necessarily pre-historic. Using movement analyses may offer profound insight into fundamental aspects of who we are as humans today.

Bhutan ~ photo CoC Archives

"The mandala structure of a large and long group dance centered on a specific deity, unfolds in time, as dance exists in time, and is only sometimes a grand geometric design before one’s eyes. More often, variously energetic dancing occurs along the lines and curves and vortices of a pattern whose wholeness is not always visible in the dancing. Constrained and released energies cultivate internal concentration and external manifestations of natural force. Masks provide meaning by iconography, just as a painting. Each dancer has a vision of the pattern in his mind as he further identifies with the deity whose attributes he embodies."
CoC Director Joseph Houseal

all photos by Nathan Whitmont, unless otherwise noted

CHAM

click here for:A Sacred Teaching on Cham by His Eminence Togden Rinpoche of the Drikung Kagyupa

Wrathful Demons

History of Cham

Cham Today

Cham is in grave danger

click here for:
A Sacred Teaching on Cham by His Eminence Togden Rinpoche of the Drikung Kagyupa