"A huge applique thangka of Tsongkhapa displayed at Youngning monastery to celebrate his festival." - Joseph Rock
A similar ceremony being held in 2004.
Note the same thangka as in the first picture
"Lamas make the demons of hell seem very real" From left to right they represent the yak, or bron; the deer; Yama, the king of hell, and Tsametthre, his wife.
"Youngning lamas don weird masks in preparation for a religous dance."
"They serve the prince of darkness": the two outside figures represent the deer, or showa spirits. All of them help the prince of the netherworld in torturing the souls of departed beings.
"Impersonator of the Showa frighten pious Tibetans": together with the yak and a gruesome retinue of living skeletons, he appears in many of the lama dances as a lieutenant of Yama, the king of hell.
A good demon: this deity of the white lama sect in Youngning holds a drum in one hand and a human thigh bone in the other.
Here are some pictures of a similar ceremony being held at the rebuilt Zhamei temple in 2004:
Tibetan lama prefects - dobdob - keeping order at the monastery in 1924.
A modern day dobdob at Yongning
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