Gorsam Kora Festival
14.03.2024
Gorsam Kora Festival
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For the Prelims:About Gorsam Kora Festival,Important points,Gorsam Kora Festival Importance |
Why in the news?
Recently, the Gorsam Kora festival was organized symbolizing the enduring friendship between India and Bhutan.
Important points:
- The festival included a variety of programmes, including mesmerizing performances by local cultural troupes and Indian Army bands, martial displays such as Mallakhamb and Jhanj Pathaka.
- Organized by the local community of Zemithang in collaboration with civil authorities and with the active support of local Indian Army units, the festival began with an invocation led by His Excellency Padma Shri Thegtse Rinpoche.
About Gorsam Kora Festival:
- The Gorsam Kora festival was held from March 7 to March 10 this year.
- This year the festival was celebrated under the theme of 'Zero Waste Festival' in which the cleanliness campaign was started by Forward and Beyond Foundation, an NGO in collaboration with the Indian Army and local administration.
- Many devotees, including a large number of Bhutanese citizens, come during the Gorsam Kora festival to celebrate the auspicious occasion during the last day of the first month of the lunar calendar.
- It is held on the banks of the Nyamjang Chhu River in the Gemintang Valley of Arunachal Pradesh.
- This annual festival is held at the Gorsam Chorten, a 93 feet tall stupa, which was built by a local monk-lama head during the 13th century AD.
- It is also the place where the 14th Dalai Lama took his first rest after fleeing Tibet in 1959.
- This includes cultural performances and Buddhist rituals at the Gorsam Chorten, which is older than the Tawang Monastery.
Gorsam Kora Festival Importance:
- This landmark and symbol for Himalayan Buddhism is even older than the Tawang Monastery, located about 92 kilometers east of Tawang city.
- It is modeled on the Boudhinath Stupa of Nepal and also has a spiritual companion, Chorten Kora, to the west at Trashiyangtse, Bhutan, built in 1740.
- The Gorsam Kora festival symbolizes the enduring friendship between India and Bhutan.
Source:The Economic Times