It is cold sitting on the courtyard floor. The shadows lengthen on the stone pavement an people gravitate to sit in the weak rays of the sun Not so the nuns from Devouche, who remain in the same position throughout the nine hour performance. A young monk serves hot Tibetan tea at regular intervals, and the nuns hold out the wooden bowls that they have brought with them for this purpose. At this time of year, night-time temperature can fall as low as minus twenty. Nima, my Sherpa guide, led me down the hill from Tengboche the sun was already setting. Dusk was short-lived and soon our way was lit by the light of the full moon. The next day the Mani Rimdu Festival would draw to a close. A finale without an audience and without music. To the sound of prayers being chanted, the concluding act involves the
burning of rolls of parchment on which the ritual prayers are written. Any
evil forces operating in the Khumbu Valley that have escaped earlier exorcism
should now have been thrown out. The end of the Mani Rimdu signifies the
end of all evil. For another year, good ness and peace will reign over the
Khumbu region of the Sherpa people.
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