By Mayank Chhaya

[Photo] Thongkpa, a student of the Tibetan form of painting, at work on a portrait of the 14th century scholar Thangtong Gyalpo. Tradition credits Gyalpo with founding the operatic tradition in Tibet. (Photo: Mayank Chhaya)

Mcleod Ganj --

India's over 150,000 exiled Tibetans are drawing upon the tenacity of a 14th century scholar to preserve and spread their art and culture.

Most Tibetans, including their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, believe art and culture are the only weapons they have against the ruthless Chinese regime.

What started as a simple bridge building project over the Kyichu river near Lhasa by the 14th century scholar Thangtong Gyalpo is proving to be a source of sustenance for the exiled Tibetans. Legend has it that Gyalpo, hard pressed as he was for money to build the bridge, turned to seven sisters in his work force who excelled at dancing and singing. The scholar created an operatic tradition around the seven sisters' talent and traveled in Tibet with their performance to raise money for the bridge. Their high-pitched and somewhat martial voice and vigorous dancing earned them the sobriquet "the heavenly dancing goddesses" or Lhamo. The bridge was built and so was the Tibetan opera.

In the last week of March the Dalai Lama inaugurated yet another edition of the week-long competitive Shoton, a Lhamo festival at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA) here, and signaled his commitment to the 580-year-long tradition.

A master of ceremonies at the inauguration said, "Lhamo is the most conclusive proof that Tibetan culture is distinct from China." What he left unsaid was that China was seeking to destroy that.

As the artists, dressed up in masks and costumes with a preponderance of black and red colors, unleashed their energetic dancing and singing, the Dalai Lama's aide said, "Who knows we will dance and sing our way to a free Tibet."

The TIPA's courtyard at an altitude of 6,500 feet was packed with a highly responsive audience, among whom was famous Hollywood film-maker Martin Scorsese. Young Tibetans in the audience, many of whom have grown up on the staple fare dished out by MTV, were seen transfixed by the sheer force of the singing and dancing enhanced by thumping drums and crashing cymbals. One Tibetan girl, who was watching Lhamo for the first time, said "MTV would pale in comparison."

The series of performances rendered in operatic fashion comprise wicked ministers, demons, queens, hunters and even Indian priests in their masks. Their gestures and singing are always exaggerated in keeping with operatic bearing and to tell stories of human aspirations and laments.

The Dalai Lama has been credited with having generated international interest in Tibetan art and culture. "Art and culture are the most effective means of establishing a distinct identity," said Tempa Tsering, Secretary of Information and International Relations of the Tibetan government in exile.

Apart from Lhamo, the exiled Tibetans have created Norbulingka Institute near Dharamsala, a town 10 miles downhill from McLeod Ganj. The institute, established in 1988, is housed in a building which has been designed by Japanese architects Kazuhiro and Maria Nakahara faithfully keeping the Buddhist architectural system in mind. Its purpose is to create a class of artisans trained in ancient Tibetan wood carving, metal sculpting, painting and weaving.

Set amid the 12,000-foot Dhauladhar mountains in the outer Himalayan range, Norbulingka is considered a monument to exiled Tibetans' struggle for a free Tibet. The institute also houses the main Buddhist temple with a 14-foot gilded copper statue of Buddha.

"All this sustains our hopes and enthusiasm about a free Tibet," said Rinchen Dorji, a spokesman for the institute. "Someday they will come true."