Hemis Festival Ladak

Hemis Fesival is one of the biggest Buddhist festivals in Ladak. It is held every year in the Hemis Monastry which is the biggest Buddhist monastery in Ladak and attracts thousand of devotees across the region. This festival is celebrated on the tenth day of lunar month in the Tibetan calendar and is celebrated in the commemoration of the birth anniversary of Guru Padmasambhava. It is a very vibrant and colorful festival, celebrated for two days. During the festival the Lamas gather around the central flagpole in the country yard of the monastry and perform various plays and mask dance. These amazing dances are performed on the beat of the beats of drums, cymbals and long horns.
The symbolic significance of the festival is the victory of good over evil. After the mask dance and sacred play, the leader of the black hat dancers destroys an idol made up of dough and spreads in the four directions. Then a devil dance is also performed. The entire programme of the Hemis festival is preceded by the head lama of the monastery.
Devil dance is an important part of the social entertainment of the Ladakh people. Other major attraction of the Hemis festival includes a colourful fair displaying some of the most exquisite handicrafts of the Ladakh region. However, the most interesting aspect of the Hemis festival is display of the two-storey high “Thanka” which depicts the image of Guru Padmasambhava is displayed for the devotees. It is embroidered with semi-precious stones and pearls.
Hemis festival is celebrated to mark the birth anniversary of Guru Padma Sambhava or Guru Gyalwang Drukchen Rimpoche, the most honored incarnation of Lord Budha. He is considered as the founder of Tibetan Buddhism who spreaded the message of Lord Buddha in the Ladak region.
This annual festival is the most awaiting festival to all Ladakis. It is the time when all villagers and families to come together and socialize. Men can be seen wearing cummerbands while women are dressed in bright headgear and lots of jewellery. The scene of this festival becomes a beautiful sight to behold. It is an wonderful scope for the traveler to interact with the local people.
This year also the Hemis festival was celebrated with warmth and gaiety on 12th and 13th July. Those who have attended this festival are mesmerized by the incredible spectacle.

Hemis Festival

Every year, in June-July, the Ladakh region of Jammu Kashmir gears up for the grandest event of the area, the Hemis festival. Hemis Monastery, the venue of the festival, is the wealthiest Buddhist monastery in India. No wonder, then, that the annual festival of Hemis is not just a local affair. Rather, it is an event that attracts thousands of Buddhists from all over the world. History also has records of the 1st Prime Minister of independent India, Jawahar Lal Nehru, participating in the event in 1949.

The festival marks the birth of Guru Padmasambhava, the founder of tantric Buddhism in Tibet. Masked dances are the highlights of this festival. These dances, for which the participants prepare in advance, depict the victory of good over evil. It is believed that Guru Padmasambhava battled with evil forces to ensure the safety of the local people. The masks themselves are works of art and represent guardian divinities of the Drukpa order to which the Hemis Monastery belongs. Apart from the masked dances, what attracts the attention of visitors is the fair which sees Ladakhis coming out in best of their colourful dresses. The fair offers excellent opportunities for shoppers to pick up some handicraft items of the area. A two storey Thangka displayed once in every 12 years is yet another highlight of the festival. The entire festival is presided over by the Rimpoche, the head Lama of the Hemis Monastery.





Foreign tourists coming from abroad to attend the Hemis festival are mostly Germans, Britons, Americans, French, Swiss, Italians and Israelites. Asian tourists from Korea, Japan, Thailand, Tibet, Singapore and SriLanka follow. This inflow of foreign tourists gives a big boost to tourism in the region. Tour operators come out with packages that take take tourists to the Hemis festival. Infact, this year, the Himachal Pradesh tourism department has also rolled out a special Manali-Leh (Manali being one of the base to reach Leh, the capital of Ladakh. The other base is Srinagar) journey package. This package covers over 400 km of Lahaul-Ladakh Cold Desert and offers tourists a chance to savour the stupendous beauty of the route.


Participating in Hemis festival is like giving oneself an opportunity to understand the local culture of the Buddhist people. It is truly not to be missed for those interested in cultural tourism in India.

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