Tibetan Ritual Music

This ritual music was performed by the monks of the Drepung-Loseling Monastery. There are three parts: Nyen-sen (Invoking the Spirit of Goodness), Kha-dro Ten-zhug (The Longevity Dance of the Space Beings), and Deng-kar Dor-je (Offering of the White Diamond Throne). The Drepung Monastery was established near Lhasa, Tibet in 1416. At one time it was the home of more than 10,000 monks. The Drepung Monastery was also important historically because it was the place of training for the Dalai Lamas. At the time of the Chinese invastion of Tibet in 1959, the population of the monastery was about 8,000. Of these, some 7,500 were either killed or sent to concentration camps. Only about 500 were able to escape to India. Of the eight lamas heard on this recording, three were of that group. The recording opens with the traditional 12-foot long horns (dung-chen) which are common to Tibetan ritual music. Also heard are cymbals, bells, and other trumpets. At about 6:48 the “Dance of the Space Beings“ (so called beca