Buchen Lamas Healers of The Pandemic
Centuries ago, a deadly plague – the Nehdag- spread in Lhasa,Tibet. People died – some in their fields and some in their beds, at home. The King of Tibet, Tsongkhapa Rinpoche, tried everything he could to save the lives of his subjects. The Drakpa, as his people fondly addressed him, was running out of time and measures – doctors and pundits were failing to find a cure and save the sick.
The king sent a messenger, to call for Lama Thang – Thong Gyalpo. When Lama Gyalpo arrived, the king had fled the scene, to hide in a forest, inside a stone. Lama Gyalpo went to the forest. He wrote ‘cha un fam’ on the stone and tied him inside it and brought the stone back to Lhasa. He needed more people to defeat the disease – so he created five people from five of his fingers – the Buchen Lamas – who cure the people by breaking the stone.
These Buchen Lamas are now becoming extinct. They’re found in Spiti Valley, Himachal Pradesh, where they continue to cure people. Their troupe comprises a Lochen (the main actor), an Onpa (the second actor) and three Lahmos or dancers. Whenever a disease spreads in a village, this troupe arrives there, breaks the stone ceremoniously, aiming to cure its people of their fear. The Lamas use laughter as their best tool. “We put confidence and positivity into people’s minds, that after today there is no illness that they have to fight,” says a Lama, one of the troupe members.
The need for these Buchen Lamas had steadily gone downhill with the evolution of technology, externalised through fancy gadgets that have reached every nook and cranny of the country. But the Lamas refuse to succumb to the fear of extinction. The Lama ends, saying, “We used to entertain people and they would receive their knowledge from us. Today, they have technology – a TV at home. There is no need for us but it doesn’t stop us from performing for anyone who wishes to be cured of their fear…”