Mask Dancing Festival at Ganden Döndrubling Monastery, China

Ganden Döndrubling Monastery (Gadan Dongzhulin Si) is a multilayered, mandala-shaped gompa towering proudly above Jinsha River, though for the most part of a year, it merely wins a glance from travellers along the Yunnan-Tibet Road. The annual Mask Dancing Festival (Tiaoshen Fahui), however, will transform it to an extraordinarily bustling place. From the 27th day to the 29th day of the 8th Tibeten month, Tibetan Buddhist pilgrims far and wide will flood into the monastery and apart from mask dancing, a much-treasured, fabulously-embroidered giant thangka depicting a protective deity will also be brought out for public worship.

Photo credit: Image by Mark Read/Lonely Planet