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In the 18th century, the 8th Tai Situpa established the Palpung Monastic Seat in Tibet, heralding the beginning of the Palpung tradition. As an aspect of that tradition, the Grand Gutor Mahakala puja was performed at Palpung Monastic Seat every year at the end of the twelfth Tibetan month, a time when Dharma protectors are most active. This puja is a practice of invoking the activity of the wisdom Dharma protectors Mahakala and Mahakali, along with their retinue. Its purpose is to protect the Buddha’s teachings of all traditions, to benefit all beings along with the world we live in and to pacify sickness, famine, wars and natural disasters.

This tradition continues to February 14 at the Palpung Sherabling Monastic Seat in India. From February 7 onwards, Rinpoches, Lamas, Khenpos, monks and nuns performed the extensive Gutor Mahakala puja day and night without interruption.

As part of this puja, there is also a Grand Gutor Mahakala lama dance, which liberates upon seeing. On February 13, they performed the first part of this lama dance without masks and on the next day, they performed the second part, this time with masks. This was followed by the conclusion of the Gutor Mahakala puja, the ritual of averting obstacles, which began with casting out the torma and ended with a fire puja.

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