India history and geography

Source: Mandala Texts: Yakchoe: The Grand Festival of Ura Village

Yakchoe festival is the main cultural event of Ura’s social calendar. The five-day festival brings together the members of the village to celebrate life and honour the gods. The villagers stop their agricultural works for the festival’s duration so they can to take part. The festival is always held between the 12th and 16th days of the third Bhutanese lunar month. Events combine spiritual practice, religious worship, cultural celebration, social gatherings, and a respite from the backbreaking work on the farms.

There are two etymologies given to explain the name Yakchoe. In what looks like the original etymology, the festival name seems to stem from a seasonal ritual of making offerings (མཆོད་པ་) to the cattle god, particularly the yak god (གཡག་ལྷ་). Before it was impacted by new Buddhist rituals, it is quite likely that the villagers were simply making offerings to the pre-Buddhist cattle gods. Even today, a ritual is performed in the deity’s chamber in the temple by a priest dressed as a pre-Buddhist shaman.

context information

The history of India traces the identification of countries, villages, towns and other regions of India, as well as mythology, zoology, royal dynasties, rulers, tribes, local festivities and traditions and regional languages. Ancient India enjoyed religious freedom and encourages the path of Dharma, a concept common to Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism.

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Ends with: Ura Yakchoe.

Full-text: Garuda, Nyulema, Zhawri, Throchu, Gomazhi, Chana Dorje, Cham, Jakor Changkor, Tenkor, Singchang, Zhingdrub, Sang, Ura Yakchoe, Nyuney, Drubchen, Gonpo.

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