Upper Mustang’s Tiji Festival - Buddhist Tour

Upper Mustang, lying in the Northern area of Mustang District is one of the most accepted travel destinations for the people from worldwide who would want to explore the ancient Monastery, diversified societies, more than thousand years of hundreds ruined cave and Himalayan Mountain desert with local ribs sphere of influence with Tibetan culture.

The former Kingdom of Lo, Upper Mustang opened to tourist since 1992 A.D. and eventually became one of the historical and most admired destinations for trekking and travelling in Nepal. Upper Mustang is enriching for Trans Himalayan climate and Lower Mustang is enrich in natural beauty, different culture and amazing landscapes.

Mustang, formerly known as the Kingdom of Lo is the rain shadowed area of Nepal. Mustangi Raja (state king of the Mustang) only one state king of Nepal, vestige on the river bank is one more charisma in the trek. Mustang region was also known as the ‘Forbidden Kingdom’ where the trekking started from 1992 only. The capital of Mustang Region is Lo Manthang. Mustang region is famous for its landscape and nature and is popular amongst the travelers as Upper Mustang is also called mini-Tibet of Nepal. We can explore the Tibetan Buddhist culture along with the thousands of years ancient monasteries, cave dwelling high up on the cliffs, traditional villages of Mustang’s people and the walled city of Lo Manthang with beautiful architecture and palace of King.

Story of Tiji Festival

Tiji Festival is the grand Tibetan - Buddhist festival celebrated in the Upper Mustang (Lo – Manthang) Region of Mustang. “Tiji” is termed as Tenchi (Buddhist prayer for world peace) derived from short form of Tenpa Chirim. In order to demolish the demons by the end of 14th century, the ritual was started by Nagwang Kunga Sonam, a Buddhist scholar introduced by King Samdup Rabten. During these ritual monks stayed in Chhode monastery for 3 days performing the Vajrakila practice. This Vajrakila practice was initiated by the great tantric master from 8th century, Guru Rinpoche / Padmasabhava. Now every year in the month of May Tiji Festival is celebrated by the monks on Chhode monastery by praying the chants and colourful mask dance.

Tiji festival started over 300 years ago as a celebration of the victory of good over the evil. The ritual explores the mythology of Tibetan Buddhist figures Dorje Jono and Padmasambhava Guru Rinpoche. As per the mythology, Dorje Jono (Vajrakila) defeated the evil to bring the peace and prosperity under the guidance of Guru Rinpoche.

The festival goes through the process of chanting the prayers and colourful masked dances. The dance is the enactment of historical battle in between Dorje Jono and the evils.

First Day of Tiji Festival

The first day of Tiji Festival begins at the noon. The festival commences with the loud horn sounds from the Tibetan horns named Dhungchen and then followed by the sound of double-reeled horns, cymbals and drums. Now the local monks and performers start the ritual by sitting under the Thangka painting which is hung on the southern wall of the square. Then after, masked dance “Tsa Chaam” (story of Dorje Jono’s victory over evil) begins.

Second Day of Tiji Festival

On the second day of Tiji Festival we can see the monks performing “Nga Cham” dance. On this ritual they tell the story of how Dorje Jono tried to return the demon to Buddha realm. We can witness the female performers on their traditional Tibetan Buddhist attire and coming out to the main square. The ritual basically shows the generation of deities and celestial palaces.

Third Day of Tiji Festival

Third day is the last day of Tiji Festival where we can see the monks performing masked danced named “Rha Chaam”. This day the ritual showcases the performance where there is end of evil. On this ritual, all the performers come out and fill the ceremony with music, dance and shooting of guns. At the end a barley-based effigy of the demon "Ma Tam Ru Ta" is thrown by the monk who performs Dorjee Sonam. With this, Tiji festival is concluded showing victory of evil over good.

Permits for Upper Mustang Trek / Tour

Upper Mustang is one of the restricted areas to trek / tour which requires Special Restricted Area Permit issued by the Department of Immigration, Nepal. It costs USD 500 per person for 10 days starting from Kagbeni to Jomsom. Extra 1 day in Mustang region will costs extra USD 50 per person per day. Also, Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) costing NPR 3000 is to be issued from Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) to enter the Mustang Region of Nepal. Also, to issue the restricted area permit original passport is required to be presented in the Department of Immigration.