Ornaments of the Khampa Tibetans

I bet nowhere in the world you will see such an enormous variety and such a great number of ornaments as worn by the Khampa Tibetans of the Kham region of China during festivals. The Khampa Tibetans are mountain herders livings at high altitude on the eastern Tibetan plateau. They traditionally lived in tents and managed large herds of yaks, sheep and horses. They had to move every few months, so the Khampas have always needed easily transportable form of wealth. They couldn't buy houses, land or put their money in a bank, so for centuries they stored their wealth in the form of ornaments that have been passed down for generations.

Ethnic jewelry of Central Tibet

Yesterday I got an e-mail with attached photos of this magnificent doll. The owner of the doll asked me whether I can help to identify the doll's costume. She was especially interested in the headdress because she was quite at a loss about how it should be put on the head.
I was very glad to help and decided to write an article too. The doll no doubt impersonates a Tibetan noble woman from Lhasa and her costume and adornments are very accurate and detailed.

Tibetan jewelry: a bit of history

Jewelry has never been worn by Tibetans just in order to beautify themselves. Jewelry in Tibet could serve as amulets, as kind of the bank, which is always with you, or as an indicator of social status.
Most jewelry made from precious metals – silver or gold – was considered auspicious and luck bringing in Tibet. In Southern Tibet it was considered bad luck for a woman to go without her hair ornaments. Up until 1950s this led to women sleeping in their enormous headdresses.

Costumes and masks of the Cham dancers

These photos I took during New Year's celebrations but New Year was Tibetan and called Losar. They celebrate it in their own way. During this festival the Cham dances are performed. They are meant to be enjoyed as entertainment but they also present religious messages and a bit of Tibetan history as well. These dances are performed by monks dressed in rich costumes of embroidered and appliqued silk brocade. Preparations of the costumes is a difficult tusk that requires a great deal of skill.

Nepalese and Tibetan amulets

Almost every man, woman and child in Tibet, Nepal and the Himalayan area of India carries a variety of charms and amulets on the body. An amulet is typically a small item or items of magic potency attached to the body. The materials , shapes, decoration for amulets are varied, as are the contents. The protective items are wrapped into cloth or placed into a metal container, a tube or a box. Amulet box in Tibet has the name gau and in Nepal - jantar. It is generally suspended from the neck as a central pendant on a string of beads and is made of copper, silver or gold with floral or iconographic designs. One of the sides or the back is left open, so that a protective item may be inserted. Jantar and gau sizes vary widely. Small containers between 2 and 4 sm per side are used as children’s amulets, while those for statues or deities may be as large as 15 sm per side or in diameter and 3 sm deep.

Ethnic dress of the Tibetans

Recently I've bought a book by Marion H. Duncan "Customs and superstitions of Tibetans". The author spent twelve years in the Eastern Tibet, between the years from 1921 to 1936, as a missionary, traveller and explorer. He gives interesting personal glimpses of Tibetan life including marriage, festivals, customs, religion. I have written a post about traditional Tibetan costume but still I think a few small excerpts from the book describing ethnic dress of the Tibetans would be interesting to read. So many years have passed since that time but the costume has not changed that much as you can see from the photos taken at Bouddhanath this year during Losar festival.

Traditional costume of Tibet

The national dress of Tibet is the chuba, a long-sleeved loose coat worn by both men and women. The men wear a shorter version with pants underneath.
Chubas are often made oversized to accommodate the Tibetan way of living. When tied around the waist by a belt or sash, the upper part of a chuba turns into a huge pocket for carrying things, from personal items to small livestock and even a baby. When it is hot in the daytime, Tibetans undress the right arms to disperse heat. If it is even hotter, then one may undress both arms and tie the sleeves around the waist.