A young Ladakhi Buddhist who is studying to become a monk wears a mask
during the annual festival celebrating the birth
anniversary of Guru Padmasambhava, the founder of Lamaism (an off-shoot of
Buddhism) in the eighth century. The two-day festival is marked by ritual
dancing in Hemis Gumpa, 28 miles southeast of Leh in the northern Indian
state of Jammu and Kashmir June 28 and 29, 2004. The Hemis Gumpa is the
oldest and largest monastery in Ladakh.
