Renewal and Re/Birth at a Himalayan Buddhist Altar

Once a year during the ritual of Sakadawa (sa ga zla ba), the villagers of Tingmosgang gather, along with hundreds of other Ladakhis of India’s western Himalayan region, to celebrate and ritually renew the beloved and powerful deity known as Thukche Chenpo (thugs rje chen po), who is housed within the village’s elaborate and well-tended altar. Based on textual evidence and oral histories, it is evident that the miraculous arrival of the self-emanated, white marble sculpture—who resides at the center of the altar assemblage—brought to the village a tremendous blessing (byin rlabs), but also responsibility. The annual celebration of Sakadawa illustrates this well, and is the focus of my paper. While known through the Vajrayana Buddhist world as a commemoration of three life events of the historical Buddha (his birth, enlightenment, and Parinirvana), in Tingmosgang, Sakadawa includes a fourth event: Thukche Chenpo’s arrival to the village in the fifteenth century. This paper outlines and analyzes the rituals of renewal that have maintained and enlivened the altar for centuries. These practices ensure the altar’s continued potency and its blessings upon the faithful. Central among these blessings are the deity’s ability to help increase human fertility and to ensure that villagers are reborn at his feet (i.e. within the village). Based on ethnographic research and fieldwork, this paper contributes a nuanced and culturally-informed understanding of a Himalayan altar, which productively challenges limited museum constructions and their associated publications.