The Sho Dun Festival (Tibetan: ༄༅། ཞོ་སྟོན།; Chinese: 雪頓節; pinyin: Xuědùn Jié), commonly known as the Shoton[1] or Yogurt Festival[2] or Banquet[3] since "Sho" means Yogurt and "Dun" means Banquet, is an annual festival held at Norbulingka or "Jewel Park" palace in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region.
| Sho Dun Festival | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Also called | Shoton Festival, Yogurt Festival, Banquet |
| Observed by | Tibetans, Bhutanese, Nepalese, Monpa |
| Type | Tibetan culture, Tibetan Buddhist |
| Frequency | Annual |
The festival is celebrated in the summer, from the 15th to the 24th of the 5th lunar month - usually about the middle of August, after a month's retreat by the monks who stay within their monasteries to avoid walking on the emerging summer insects and killing them.
It began in the 11th century with a banquet given by the laypeople for the monks featuring yogurt. Later on, summer operas, or Lhamo, and theatricals were added to the festivities.[4] The operas, "last all day with clashing cymbals, bells and drums; piercing recitatives punctuating more melodious choruses; hooded villains, leaping devils, swirling girls with long silk sleeves. In the past, dancers came from all over Tibet, but today there is only the state-run Lhasa Singing and Dancing Troupe."[5]
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