The Kagyed dance, performed annually in the monasteries of Sikkim, falls in which month?

The Kagyed (also spelt Kagyat) dance is performed every year in December, on the 28th and 29th days of the tenth month of the Tibetan calendar, in the monasteries of Sikkim. It is held two days before the Losoong festival, the Sikkimese New Year.

The Kagyed dance is a masked dance (cham) performed by the Buddhist lamas (monks) in the courtyards of monasteries, such as the Tsuklakhang Palace monastery in Gangtok, the Phodong monastery and the Rumtek monastery. The monks wear colourful silk costumes and masks representing deities, demons, animals and protectors of the Buddhist faith. The dance is accompanied by chanting and the music of long horns, cymbals and drums. Its purpose is to destroy the evil forces of the past year and to pray for peace, prosperity and good fortune in the coming year. The dance depicts the destruction of evil by the protective deities.

On the last day, effigies made of flour, wood and paper, which represent evil spirits and the negative forces of the year, are burnt in a bonfire, symbolising the victory of good over evil. People from the surrounding areas gather to watch the dance and receive blessings. The Kagyed dance is followed by the celebrations of Losoong, the harvest and New Year festival of the Bhutias and Lepchas.

Masked dances are an important part of Buddhist festivals in the Himalayan region, such as the Hemis festival in Ladakh, the Torgya festival at Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, and the Tsechu festivals of Bhutan.

Other Buddhist festivals of Sikkim include Saga Dawa, Pang Lhabsol, Bumchu, Drukpa Tshe-zhi and Lhabab Dhuechen.

Why not the other options?

• ✗April is not the month of the Kagyed dance.
• ✗July is around the time of Drukpa Tshe-zhi, the Buddha's first sermon.
• ✗September is around the time of Pang Lhabsol.