Dance Hats

The Black Hat dancing is a complicated ritual which required several days to do in Tibet. The objective of the routine would be to remove the barriers, which at the person would be the afflictive emotions and truths which cause sufferings. At the start of the dancing, the Black Hat Dancers make symbolic offerings of gold libation into the lineage lamas, tutelary deities and also Dharmapalas, to please them and get their blessings. Subsequently, the listeners encourage the Dharmapala’s consorts and their retinues to combine them.

As mentioned in the Vinaya, the code of spiritual ethics, the robes of ordination function as a reminder that the individual wearing them would be a fully-ordained monk. In the same way, the Black Hat costume is dressed with a few tantric practitioners to keep the pride and clarity of appearing from the wrathful aspect of a tantric deity. This supreme pride or confidence serves a unique purpose for the particular route of Tantra.

The Black Hat dancers apply protective substances in their lips and forehead that give them a wrathful look. They exhibit this hazardous facet as a way to tame the minds of sentient beings affected by the negative emotions of hate, greed, and ignorance. They aren’t inspired by anger, but by ultimate compassion and love.