DUKAR DOLMA
April is a month of prayer in the village of Ritoma. Spring arrives late on the Plateau, and the third month of the lunar calendar is a critical time for its inhabitants. The ewes are exhausted from birthing over the winter, and the lambs are vulnerable. Without timely rain, the pasture will remain as brown dust, and the weaker sheep will not survive.
During this crucial month, monks from Ritoma monastery visit each of the 220 families in the village and recite the Dukar Dolma prayers. These prayers ward off obstacles, bring health to humans and animals in the coming year, and ensure prosperity for the household.
Dukar and Dolma are two female protective deities, also bodhisattvas. Dukar, known as Sitatapatra in Sanskrit, is white with an angry expression. She can be represented with a thousand arms or just four, with an eye in each palm. She holds a white parasol, a symbol of protection, and a dharma wheel, which stands for the Buddha’s teachings. Her healing energy protects one from harm and danger, bringing health and stability.
Dolma, or Tara in Sanskrit, is a female bodhisattva who can be green or white in color and has a peaceful expression with an eye in the palm of each hand. She is said to have arisen from the tears of Chenrezig, or Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion, as he wept at the suffering of sentient beings. She is widely prayed to by both men and women, and her mantra is on the lips of many pilgrims and circumambulators of monasteries and stupas all over the Plateau.
As the nomads' prosperity increased, so did the lavishness of these spring prayers. Twenty or thirty years ago, these rituals remained simple. Monks would sometimes arrive at a house with no household members to receive them, as the whole family was out at pasture tending to their animals. They would recite the prayers and leave. Nowadays, each family tries to outdo the other in the celebration of these prayers. They prepare elaborate meals laid out on long tables, where the monks come and sit after the prayers are said. Later in the day and in the following days, they invite families from the whole village to partake. Children run excitedly among the stacks of cold drinks, cookies, and fruits, while the adults eat steamed dumplings and exchange the latest news.
Celebrations like these reveal the vibrancy of culture and tradition in this small village. They are a constant source of inspiration for Norlha and provide meaning, security, and identity for its employees.