Origins
    The first celebration of Mani Rimdu at the monastery of Tengpoche seems to have taken place sometime in 1930.  No recorded evidence is available on the subject in the monastic archives.  One could, however, speak with greater certitude about the first celebration of the same sacred drama-festival at the monastery of Thami taking place in the year 1940.
    It is almost certain that after a few years of experimentation, adjustment and self-analysis, the present pattern was evolved and has been repeated without any change since 1950.
    The monks do not have any written manuscript or notes as to the sequence of dances.  Only oral tradition must have provided the basis for the earliest presentation.  The monks of Tengpoche directly or through their colleagues seem to have got the necessary information regarding Mani Rimdu from the monks of the Rongphu (Rong buk) monastery situated on the northern slope of Everest.  Many inhabitants of the Khumbu valley remember having crossed the mountain chains to witness the religious shows.  As to how the dance-drama of Mani Rimdu came to Rongphu, how it developed, and how much of it underwent a change in form or content, will ever remain an enigma.  It appears that the Mani Rimdu contained many popular elements associated with the Tibetan festival "cham", which itself was based on the temple-dances connected with exorcism.  The few western visitors to Tibet in the last few centuries were all admiration for the festivals of the New Year, the Dance of the Devils or of the Demon - Red Tiger (S Tag-dmar-ch'm) in vogue in the pre-Buddhist "Bon" religion.

Purpose
    Being essentially of a religious character (the monks put on masks representing divine personages and in fact become divine for the moment) Mani Rimdu easily achieves the purpose of initiating the faithful in the fundamentals of Buddhism as practised by Sherpas.  Though the sacred dramas of the Sherpas do not have for their ultimate aim the conversion of a few superstitious followers of Bon religion to Buddhism, they try, in every possible manner to hold up before the spectators certain moral and ethical values.  These dramas have not been written in a casual way.  Somebody has compared the Mani Rimdu representations to the Catholic church-drama or mystery plays of the medieval time with their stock stage-characters of the Devil and the Angels, Virtue and Vice, the good and the evil, redemption and punishment.

Religious Significance
    The question whether the first Mani Rimdu festival occurred in 1930 or, as claimed by some people, in 1938 is of little importance to the westerners.  Perhaps, they are more interested in knowing the significance of the name and the content of individual dance rhythms.  Originally Mani Rimdu (pronounced Mani-Ril-drup) was the official name given to the "consecration of life" ceremony which forms the opening gambit of the celebration.  As a result of the popular shift in pronunciation "Mani Ril-Sgrub" (Mani Ril-drup) came to be called Mani Rimdu.  Besides being the title of the opening scene of Mani Rimdu, Mani-Ril-Sgrub happens to the name of certain special prayers offered on the occasion of the consecratory rites as also the name of a type of "Torma" used in that sacred function.  The aforesaid prayer is not only recited during the inaugural ceremony of the Mani Rimdu festival, but is also repeated on diverse other occasions during the year to invoke the blessings of gods for the people of the Khumbu region and quite often to bring down rain for thirsty fields.
    Mani Rimdu is thus a "prayer ceremony" and the dances, proper, are religiously symbolic.  The spectators are invited to witness the close relationship between the monks and the divine beings through dance sequences.  The significance of some doctrinal principles, otherwise beyond the popular mental grasp, is clarified through dramatic action.  Those among the spectators who watch the drama with a pure heart acquire indulgences or "sonam" (increase in the personal fund of "Karma" or good actions).
    Of the same type is the festival at the monastery of Thami.  It follows the rules of Tengpoche monastery whose priest is considered to be an authority on such celebrations.  Thus it so happens that at Junbesi and at other small villages similar dances are enacted, though in a minor key.
    The Head priest of Tengpoche and some old monks see to it that the religious rituals are properly observed during these festivals.  The younger and the most energetic among the monks are entrusted with the actual execution of these rituals.  Three weeks before the commencement of this annual festival, costumes and masks are taken out of the store-houses (gon-Kang), systematically checked, mended and finishing touches given, so as to fit them to the persons who have to wear them.

Preliminary Preparations
    One day before the actual festival a dance rehearsal (tsam-ki-bulu) is arranged without the spectators, without masks and without costumes to synchronize the dance movements with the musical band.
    The costumes are displayed on the benches in the "gompa" in a particular order known only to the manks but in such a way as to facilitate wearing or changing of the dress by the participants.  In-fact a number of monks are called upon to rehearse the part of different deities in the course of thirteen "pictures" or tableau enacted for seven hours at a stretch.  The gompa (the temple of the monastery on the ground floor) becomes for all intents and purposes the actors' Green Room in a popular theatre.  Since the dances are of a collective nature and there is no hierarchy among the monks it would be absurd to think of providing separate small rooms for make-up and recreation.
    In the "gompa" the monks refresh themselves in between the dance sequences with frugal food and quench their thirst with strong "chang", which produces in them a momentary state of euphoria to be soon replaced by the fatigue of successive dances.  Although the monks are used to high altitude living since childhood, the nearly 4,000 metres height on which the Tengpoche monastery is situated seems to tell on them as it is not uncommon to find them gasping for breath during very fast dance movements under the weight of their heavy clothing and masks which impede free respiration.  This notwithstanding the fact that the monks selected for dancing are by far the healthiest of the lot.

Duration and Time
    Some decades ago the sacred drama entailed three days of effective dancing with the participation of dozens of actors.  Nowadays, however, the dancing lasts only for a day with the maximum of 16 participants.  The exact date of celebration of Mani Rimdu is fixed each year to coincide with the full-moon of November.  At times the due date falls in the beginning of December.  This period coincides with the stoppage of work in the villages between the end of harvesting and the beginning of the local caravan expeditions.  Till recently this was the general schedule.  Changes in this time-schedule, however, are not ruled out in future.  Alternatively, the visitors have an option to witness the same festival of Mani Rimdu at the monastery of Thami during May, just before the monsoons break.
    From 1974 onwards Mani Rimdu is being celebrated at Tengpoche only in spring and the festival at Thami is held a few days later.  The visitors, thus, have the rare opportunity of witnessing both the festivals in one and the same trip.  The journey from one monastery to another takes only 2 days on foot.

The Inaugural Ceremony
    The first day or rather the first afternoon of the dance-festival of Mani Rimdu is devoted to the inaugural ceremony which lasts about three hours.  It begins at about one or two o'clock and finishes with the sunset.  Since early morning the monks start preparing for it.  In the afternoon, or a little earlier, a small procession leaves the main gate of the "Gompa" to enter the stone paved courtyard down a somewhat steep flight of stairs.  The advance party consists of standard-bearers carrying emblems of the Tibetan Buddhism and of monastic orders, the canopy-bearers of the Head priest, the blowers of horns (dung-chen-pa), two cymbol players (sbug-cham-pa), two drum beaters (chos-rnga-pa), the master of ceremonies equipped with a whip (ldab-ldob), two players on the bugle made of human bones (rkang-gling-pa), two persons carrying incense (bsang-phor-pa) and a monk holding a metal vase containing holy water (tu) with a peacock feather stuck in it.  The Head priest walks slowly towards the throne and occupies it.  The throne is placed on a brick structure and is draped in Chinese brocade with multi-coloured ribbons.  Nearby is an altar with customary votive offerings neatly placed in front of it, lending an air of sanctity to the whole setting.  In front of the Head priest is the sacred chair with ritual objects: the lightning sceptre (rdo-rje or Vajra), the silver bell (tril-bu-or ghanta), the double liturgical drum (damru or nga-chung), the prayer book and the holy water (tu).  Two assistants help the priest in sorting out the offerings received, which generally consist of cone-shaped "torma".
    On the drapery hanging down the chairs there are pictures of two lightning-sceptres in the form of a cross and two "Swastikas" drawn clockwise.  Swastika is derived from the Sanskrit word "Swastha" meaning health.  It has a symbolic value and the Indians generally use it as a magical symbol or as an omen of good fortune.  The "Swastika" of the Jains is turned anti-clockwise while the Buddhist one is clock-wise.  According to some scholars it represents the Sun in its orbit.  The Swastika has also been adopted by the Yellow sect and other reformist sects among the Buddhists in its clockwise pattern.  Among the Orthodox Buddhist sects and the pre-Buddhist Bon religion, the Swastika is turned to the left.
    On the extreme right of the Head priest sits a monk in Chinese dress with his mask upturned.  This monk will later on play a comic part in the drama to be staged the next day.  His presence in the inaugural ceremony of consecration is obligatory.  In addition, he represents long life.  Seated on the carpet in front of the Head priest are the old monks, the nuns of Deboche, the instrument-players and two or three prominent village landlords who have had the honour of making lavish personal offerings at the ceremony.  Then there is the heterogeneous public, either seated or standing, consisting of Sherpa women dressed in their very best brocades, Sherpa menfolk with their Tibetan caps and furlined overcoats, carefree children decked up Chinese-style in miniature costumes and finally visitors from the western hemisphere sporting dresses and hair-styles of all hues.
    The main ceremony unfolds itself in four stages; first comes the blessing ceremony in which all present are wished a long spiritual life.  This is followed by the acceptance of the ritual offerings from the monks and the laymen; then comes the mass distribution of longevity pills and serving of holy water and finally personal benediction by the Head priest.  The whole ceremony harks back to ideas and traditions of Bon religion because, as has been rightly noted by L. G. Jerstad, the idea of wishing long life is not fundamental to Buddhism as such.  Thus it is the life of the spirit (bla-tshe) that is stressed.  The pills given to the faithful as a "food" for longevity are called tshe-ril (if made with torma) and mani-rhil-bu (if made with red-coloured rice).  During the ceremony cone-shaped figures are made out of torma (photograph 49) symbolizing deities worthy to be invoked and also demons fit to be driven away.   Special receptacles are used during the ceremony such as "dbang-bum" the power-bestowing vase typical of the tantric functions, the "las-bum", a ritual vase for water used in all the Buddhist ceremonies, the "ti-bum" - a vase with a mirror, the tshe-bum - "the vase of life" containing holy water "tu".  The simplest form of benediction with holy water is called chin-lab (Tibetan: sbyin-rlabs).  The blessing is given by a monk by pouring holy water in the pam of the hand of "the faithful" or of the pilgrim.  A small quantity of this blessed water is tasted by the pilgrim and the rest is sprinkled on the head by him.  "Chang", the Sherpa beer, is also used in performing certain rites.  IN SUCH cases "chang" takes on the name of "water of life" (tshe-chang).  The spectators, however, drink occasionally their own "chang" from beautiful wooden bottles (Kye-kal).  At a certain stage during the ceremony the Head priest sprinkles the holy water with a peacock feather on all present.  This significant rite appears to be borrowed from other religions.  In the ancient Tibetan religion it was a common belief that the devil killed men after polluting their souls.  Some traces of it seem to survive paradoxically in Tantric Buddhism, in as much as the opening ceremony of the Mani Rimdu - "the consecration of life" - is intended, among other things, to ward off the evil influence of the demons on things, persons, even divine beings themselves, mountains and geographical regions.  For example, in the Khumbu region, a mountain itself is supposed to have a soul (bla) called Khumbu-Yul-Lha.  If a devil were to destroy the soul of the mountain, all inhabitants of that region would run the risk of losing their life.  One of the purposes of Mani Rimdu is precisely to exorcise the evil forces and shield the people against the nefarious designs of demons.
   It is believed that only on one particular day during the course of the entire year the devil has the power to attack the soul of the mountains and the people of the Khumbu region.  It is, therefore, the duty of the priests to contrive something interesting so as to divert the attention of the devil and make him innocuous on that particular day.
    The ceremony reaches it climax with an invocation to Padmasambhava, the apostle who is said to have come all the way from India to Tibet to make necessary changes in Buddhism to suit the genius of the northern people.  It is followed by songs of exorcism typical of Bon religion.  In the meanwhile, the younger among the monks continue to serve hot tea to their seniors, nuns, instrument players and to special invitees.  The "Chorumba" and the "Chorpen" (the guardians and custodians of the gompa) continue to keep watch over everybody from a hidden corner to ensure proper execution of tasks assigned.  It is not an uncommon thing for someone to stand up during the course of the ceremony and start rotating his prayer wheel in full public view.  The elderly wives of the Khumbu region, too, do not lag behind in making a public demonstration of their philanthropic instincts by distributing money among all the guests as a token of their happiness and goodwill.  At the same time some devotees are seen offering symbolic gifts to the Head priest on traditional white cotton or silk shawls (Ka-ta, ka-gtags).
    In the meantime the containers of holy water are brought and blessed.  The blessed water is then received in the hand.  Similarly, "chang" containers or the containers of the "water of life" (tshe-chang) receive official blessings.  The devotees are given a few drops of the blessed "chang" to drink.  Then the balls of "torma" resting on the altar are distributed among the bystanders who swallow them with obvious relish.  Their distribution is a signal for the monks and the lay devotees to get up and rush towards the High Priest for personal benediction as a final act of the ceremony.  The crowd draws near the altar in a confused way and gets the blessings of the High Priest who places his hands on their bowed heads.  Everybody seems satisfied and pleased with the benediction obtained.
    Comes the evening.  The shadows lengthen on the cool grass, as on polar ice in the land of Eskimos.  There is already a numbing chill in the air.  The procession with its "living god"  - the Boddhisattva incarnate, prepares to wend its way back to the temple.  It has an air of unreality as it moves slowly, wrapped in a halo of golden light which makes it appear distant, although it is so near.  Even to a European or an agnostic, the scene is extremely charming and mystically fascinating.  One can imagine the impact it makes on the unsophisticated, religious-minded Sherpas.  The procession marches on, bathed in the absolute glory of the setting sun, towards the southern wall of the monastery, re-ascending a steep path.  Then it turns round to the West and to the North before finally entering the courtyard of the temple and from there into the "gompa".  Thus ends successfully the first day.