" CHAAM "

Religious dance in mask, that is held on the occasion of the annual holidays of the monasteries. The dancers, the same monks of the monastery, wear elaborate suits and painted masks that represent characters of the Tibetan legends.
The dance, accompanied by songs and liturgical music, it represents the struggle among the good and the evil and it symbolizes the destruction of the malignant strengths for the peace and of the prosperity. One of the most popular masks is Mahakala, the great Protector, represented with fangs and a headgear of human skull. Some characters are represented with a third painted eye in the middle of the forehead, to symbolize the necessity of internal reflections.