1985 The Judgement of Death Mask Dance. Druelgo |
1985 The Judgment of Death Mask Dance. Druelgo 50-chetrum Bhutan MNH
Text: Druelgo 50-chetrum Bhutan
Condition: MNH
Title:
Druelgo
Face value: 50 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: Druelgo
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.
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