1985 Asia Pacific exposition SHINJE CHOEGYEL 5-chetrum Bhutan MNH

1985 Asia Pacific exposition SHINJE CHOEGYEL 5-chetrum Bhutan MN H

Text: SHINJE CHOEGYEL 5-chetrum Bhutan
Condition: MNH

Title:   SHINJE CHOEGYEL

Face value:     5 Ch

Country/area:            Bhutan

Year:   1985

Set:     1985

Stamp number in set :          2

Basic colour:  Multi-coloured

Perforation:    

Watermark:   Without watermark

Type:   Stamp

Theme:           Judgement of Death Mask Dance

Stamp subject:           SHINJE CHOEGYEL

Michel number:        

Luminescence:          None

Printing:         Offset

Usage:            Franking

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The Dance of the Judgment of the Dead (Raksha Marcham)

This dance is one of the most interesting of the Tshechu and it is extremely didactic. It is divided into two parts.

First comes a long dance by the Rakshas who are aides to the Lord of the Dead. They wear yellow skirts and animal masks. Then the Lord of the Dead—Shinje Choekyi Gyelpo—enters together with his attendants, the white god and the black demon who live with all beings and bear witness to their actions. The Lord of the Dead is a wrathful representation of Avalokiteshvara, the deity of compassion. Next begins the judgment proper. The first to enter is a sinner dressed all in black with a black mask, holding a basket containing a piece of meat that symbolizes his sins. The Lord of the Dead listens to his story, then has his actions weighed on a scale. The good actions are symbolized by white pebbles, the bad ones by black pebbles. The white god tries to save the sinner by emphasising his good actions, whereas the black demon describes the man’s wicked actions in detail. In the end, the sinner is sent to hell to the great joy of the black demon who accompanies him on the road to hell, symbolized by a length of black cloth.

A general dance ensues and then a virtuous man enters. As a sign of his piety, he is dressed in white, with a white face, and he holds a prayer flag. The same judgment scene as before unfolds and the virtuous man is sent to paradise on a road which is symbolized by a length of white cloth. The black demon tries to seize him at the last moment but the white god saves him and he is welcomed by celestial beings.

Shinje Chhogyel is the lord of death. He has a fearful crimson face with three eyes. He carries a thramshing in his right hand that signals who is dead from the world, and a mirror in the left that shows what good and bad the deceased has done as a human being.

To his right is the Lhakarpo. He is completely white and holds a rosary in the left hand. In his right hand, he carries white counting stones that weigh the good work done by the person when alive.

To his left is the fearful character with three bulging eyes and a scary sight to children. He is a tall, dark figure dressed completely in black, with a big black mask and a yak tail sticking out from the top.