File:Cham dance at Leh Palace, 13 February 2018.webm

English: “Dosmoche” was started by the rulers of Ladakh.Recognized as an annual prayer festival. Sacred mask dances are carried out in the courtyard of the old chapel below the gates of the Leh Palace. For this, Lamas are drawn from different monasteries from across Ladakh on a rotation basis.It is the last event of the New Year celebrations, and is held on the 28th and 29th day of the 12th Tibetan month, which normally falls in second half of February. The festival falls in the second half of FebruaryIt is the last event of the New Year celebrations, and is held on the 28th and 29th day of the 12th Tibetan month, which normally falls in second half of February.The sacrificial offerings are burnt. The destruction with great fanfare signifies washing away all evil spirits. Thus, it is believed that by doing so, people will be protected from natural calamities in the coming year.Every year in Leh Palace,Likir Monastery and in Diskit Monastery hold a sacred festival, during which they perform 1,300-year-old mystic dances of Tibet. These dances are known as Cham dance, and are held to transform the evil for the benefit of the world. Monks will meditate for days or weeks before the festivals, visualizing and invoking the spirits of the deities. Then they will perform elaborate dances posing as the deities they visualized. The dances include the performance of ancient movements and the repetition of sacred mantras that are designed to draw the evil from the world.This evil is drawn and held in an effigy of a human body made of soft clay or dough. As the ceremonial dance reaches its climax, the dance master, known as the chamspon, cuts the effigy open and draws the evil into his own body, in order to show it peace and the path to enlightenment and liberation.