Overview

Tiji is one of the most important and colorful festival celebrated in upper Mustang. The festival is celebrated on the fifth month of the Tibetan lunar calendar, which usually falls in May under English calendar. The festival is celebrated annually at the onset of spring with great enthusiasm by local people gathering from every nook and cranny villages as spring season symbolizes regeneration of life.

The festival is held at the walled city of Lo Manthang (3730 m), the capital of Mustang and also home to Mustang's former King Jigme Dorjee Palbar Bista who lost his royal title in 2008 after Nepal became a republic country. The festival is celebrated for three days featuring a ritual known as 'chasing of demons'. Monks wearing masks and colorful costumes enact the story of Dorje Shunu who fought against his demon father to save the Kingdom of Mustang from falling apart. Two huge Thangkas are displayed during the festival and the monks perform a dance called “Tsa Chham” on the first day and “Nga Chham” on the second day. The final ceremony is held on the third day by Dhorje Sonam (who destroyed the demons) and believe that the village will be purified from the evil spirits during his performance. The monk who performs the role of Dorje Sonam has to stay in privacy doing meditation for three months during the winter.

Mustang lies in the north of the main Himalayan range and the area is also known as the trans-Himalaya. Mustang was opened for trekking in March 1992 and it was once an important trading route between Tibet and Nepal. It has a barren desert-like appearance similar to the Tibetan Plateau and is characterized by eroded canyons and colorful stratified rock formations with arid and dry vast high valley. Mustang is also a land of barley fields, pasture and vast expanses of gray and yellow rolling hills eroded by the wind that howls across the area in the afternoon. This trek takes you to the last forbidden kingdom of Lo and offers an opportunity to witness the ancient and colorful Tiji festival.