Matho Nagrang

Famous for the two blindfolded oracles who go into public trance and foretell what is to come.

To invoke the blessings of the monastery's resident guardian deities, Rongtsan Nyilma and Karthing, ensuring protection for the local population and preserving the spiritual line established by the founding masters of the Sakya monastic order.

The monastery courtyard becomes an energetic center packed with pilgrims. Monks perform sacred masked dances (Cham) dressed in heavy, multi-colored silk brocades. The climactic arrival of the two possessed oracle monks triggers intense excitement, accompanied by the deep blasts of monastic longhorns (Dungchen) and traditional chanting.

Chosen monks undergo two months of rigorous solitary meditation, fasting, and sensory deprivation to purify their bodies for the deities. Upon possession, they run blindfolded across the precarious, narrow parapets of the high monastery walls without support, perform dramatic acts of physical endurance with sharp weapons, and hear personal questions from the public.

The direct predictions and oracular pronouncements made by the possessed monks are believed to be absolutely infallible, mapping out the upcoming agricultural fortune, weather patterns, and challenges for Ladakh. Their spiritual touch is thought to ward off diseases and evil hexes.

Rooted in the founding traditions of Matho Monastery, established in 1410 AD by Lama Dugpa Dorje as the sole representative of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism in Ladakh, where the ritual has been kept unbroken for centuries.

The sub-zero air of Matho rings with the primeval, vibrating roar of monastic longhorns and the rhythmic clanging of heavy cymbals. Suddenly, the blindfolded oracles sprint fearlessly across the edge of the high monastery roofs, their movements displaying a terrifying, superhuman agility. Surrounded by swirling incense and monks in wrathful wooden masks, you are pulled into a raw encounter with the deep, untamed mysticism of the high Himalayas.