Festivals in Bhutan are celebrated according to the Tibetan lunar calendar and usually most religious events occur at the tenth day of the month which are considered an auspicious day to the Buddhists. Every tenth day of each month is regarded one. Festivals generally are celebrated in the form of ‘wang’- a blessing to the laymen by high secret saints to wash away their sins and help them face the afterlife, and ‘tsechu’- religious teachings depicted in the form of mask dances. Trained monks and laymen wearing colorful ornate costumes and wooden masks perform the mask dances. During these events, which last from three to five days, ordinary people are given the ideas of good and evil and what one has to face in their afterlife. Of the various dances performed, the heart events are made to fall during the auspicious date, the 10th, which in Bhutanese language is ‘tsechu’. On the tenth day, it begins with the exhibition of ‘thongdrel’ (meaning confer liberation by the mere sight of it), which is a large canvas painting of those great Buddhist saints, which possesses a greater significance amongst them all. Another significant event of the day is the ‘guru tsegay’, a mask dance portraying the eight manifestations of Guru Rinpochoe. Although, tsechu is held for the mask dances and blessings, professional singers and dancers at the end of each mask dance perform traditional Bhutanese songs and dances. The dancers wear colorful hand woven dresses made from locally harvested silk. It also provides the local populace with a wonderful occasion to dress up, gather together, and enjoy, in a convivial light-hearted atmosphere. It is also an occasion to renew their faith and receive blessings by watching the sacred dances, or receiving 'empowerment' from a lama or Buddhist monk. Tsechu is an annual religious festival that has been celebrated in different locality at different times. The festival held at dzongs or lhakhangs falls during summer at some places and during winter in others. Of these festivals the Paro Tsechu, in the spring, and the Wangue and ThimpuTsechus, in the fall, are the most impressive. These festivals are very popular with western tourists. For more information, please visit our website: http://www.bhutankhadartours....