The dancers are eighty in number, and their gowns are made of white, red, and green satin. Each one holds in his left hand a wooden skull, and in his right a short club, from which hang five silk scarfs of different colours. They prance about, wildly waving their arms, for half an hour or so, when suddenly there is heard wild shrieking, and a second set of dancers, or masks called Kambab, come in. They are dressed to represent the various gods, most of them extraordinarily hideous to look at. These continue the wild dance to the music of cymbals, drums, and flutes for a couple of hours.
When the Kambab have stopped, four skeleton-like figures appear: they are the Durdag, or “lords of cemeteries,” and they dance in their turn. These are followed by sixteen figures representing Indian atsaras, who, by their dress and contortions, excite wild mirth among the people. A number of dancers wearing stag heads then appear, and finally the “black hat” dancers come out once more, each with a cymbal or a drum in his hand, and the dance comes to an end.
At the termination of the dance the lamas who performed the religious service earlier in the day form in a procession and proceed to throw away the torma offering.
Five hundred soldiers and twenty-four flag-bearers accompany the procession. Three lamas carry on an iron tripod the tsamba torma, which is of pyramidal shape, about ten feet high and painted red, with projecting edges to represent flames, and frequently surmounted by a skull moulded in tsamba. Three other lamas bear on a large iron tray supported by a tripod a skeleton also made of tsamba. The procession goes to about a mile from the temple to where a shed, or hom khang, of straw or brush has been made, in which the torma and the skeleton are placed and then set on fire. [[264]]
When the flames break forth the flag-bearers lower their flags and run back to the lamasery with all speed, to escape the devil’s assaults, and the soldiers fire off their guns at the burning mass to prevent the evil spirits escaping from the fire in which they are now supposed to be roasting.[29]
On the thirtieth day of the moon, New Year’s eve, all house decorations and furniture are renewed or cleaned, and offerings and oblations made in every domestic chapel. The walls, pillars, posts, lintels, etc., are washed with whey. A lotus, finger-marks or marks of animals’ claws are painted on the wooden floors of the rooms, or a sheep’s head is scorched, and its eyes, ears, and nose painted with the five colours mixed with butter: this is said to be a certain means of insuring good luck, and is believed to be a pre-Buddhist custom of the country.
In the evening the whole city is illuminated, and this is kept up for three successive nights.
New Year’s day is called Gyalpo lo sar, or “the King’s new year,” and the Grand Lama holds a levee on this occasion. The Donnyer chenpo, or Grand Chamberlain, opens the ceremony by wishing the lama all happiness (“tra-shi de leg phun-sum tsog”), and presenting him some wine and tsamba. The Grand Lama replies, “Tan-du de-wa tobpar shog” and dipping his finger in the wine, sprinkles a little about as an oblation, and then tastes the tsamba. Then the great trumpets sound, and the Dalai lama takes his seat on the throne in the great hall, and all the ministers and church dignitaries take their places according to precedence. Tea is then served, followed by toma, a kind of red potato of Tibet, cooked in butter and sugared.[30] When they have finished eating, every one presents His Holiness with khatag about eighteen feet long, and he gives each one in return his blessing.
In the mean time “the good luck dance” (tra-shi-gi gar) is going on outside the hall, in which some twenty little boys, of eight years of age, take part, the lower officials, such as the Dungkhor, forming the audience.
In every house of any importance the master, his wife, and children [[265]]are offered the compliments of the season by all their relatives, dependents, and friends, who, in their turn, are treated with wine by them. When the New Year’s wine has been drunk, the misser (serfs) sing some hymns or glees.