Following the Chinese takeover of Tibet in 1959, the Drepung Loseling Monastery, in the hills on the northern outskirts of Lhasa, was closed, along with nearly all of Tibet's 6,500 monasteries. Many were completely destroyed. Most of Loseling's monks were murdered or imprisoned. Roughly 250 escaped and sought refuge in India, where they eventually built a replica of the monastery in Karnataka State, southeast of Bombay.
In conjunction with the monastery's North American branch in Atlanta, Georgia, and Richard Gere Productions, Drepung Loseling produces the Mystical Arts of Tibet tour, a multi-faceted program featuring monks performing sacred temple music and dance; live mandala sand painting; and art and ritual objects on display, including personal objects belonging to the Dalai Lama.
This week the Colonial Theatre plays host to the Mystical Arts of Tibet: Sacred Music Sacred Dance for World Healing, a night of entertainment and enlightenment that concludes the monks' residency, which featured in-school assemblies, creating a sand painting and facilitating interfaith lectures.
June 14, 8 p.m., $25-35, The Colonial Theatre, 11 South St., Pittsfield, (413) 997-4444, www.TheColonialTheatre.org.
