) 
Trip Overview
Mani Rimdu festival is one of the most interested festival of Sherpa commiunity. Mani Rimdu takes place from the first day of the tenth month of the Tibetan lunar calendar, falling between mid-October and mid-November. It lasts until the nineteenth day of the month at Tengboche every year preformed by the monks of Chiwong and Tengboche Monastery. It depicts the victory of Buddhism over the ancient Bon religion. From the beginning until the end of the festival, 24 hours Puja (rituals) will be performed by the monks to consecrate the Mandala, the Mani Rilwu (sacred pills) and the Tshereel (pills for long life). It is a 19-day sequence of sacred ceremonies and empowerments culminating in a public festival lasting for three days. Mani Rimdu is a re-creation of legendary events; the establishment of Buddhism in Tibet by the great saint Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava). Through the dances, symbolic demons are conquered, dispelled, or converted to Dharma Protectors, as positive forces clash with those of chaos. The dances convey Buddhist teaching on many levels from the simplest to the most profound. The monks, who perform the dances, first take vows at an empowerment ceremony with Trulshig Rinpoche. During the dances they become deities, rather than ordinary people. Because the dances are regarded as sacred, they can only be performed in the context of Mani Rimdu and not for ordinary entertainment. Trulshig Rinpoche explains, “Seeing Mani Rimdu is like receiving a blessing”.
