Yak Chaam (Yak Dance)

Understand

Where Yak Chaam (Yak Dance) comes from

Yak Chaam is the yak-dance of the Sikkimese Tibetan Buddhist tradition, performed at the Losar and the Tsechu festivals of the Sikkimese monasteries. The yak is the central animal of the high-altitude agricultural life of the Sikkimese Bhutia community, and the dance celebrates the yaks' role in the harvest and the high-altitude life. The form is one of the documented regional traditions of Sikkim and is regularly performed at the cultural programmes of the state and at the monastery festivals.

How it's practiced

Yak Chaam is performed by men of the Bhutia community in the yak costume (the long-haired black and white costume of the yak) at the central courtyard of the monastery or at the open ground of the festival. The men perform the steps of the yak in coordinated sequences, with the small lunges of the high-altitude tradition. Music is the long horn (the rong-chen), the large cymbals and the small cymbals of the monastery. Costume is the elaborate yak costume — the long-haired black and white body-suit and the painted mask of the yak. Performances are at the central courtyard of the monastery and at the cultural programmes of the state.