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Almost 300 years ago, Mahapandita Chokyi Jungne (the 8th Kenting Tai Situpa) founded the Palpung Monastic Seat in Tibet, thus establishing the unique Palpung tradition. As an aspect of that tradition, the Grand Gutor Mahakala puja was performed at Palpung Monastic Seat and its branches annually at the end of the Tibetan lunar year. This puja invokes 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 sentient beings along with the world we live in and to pacify sickness, famine, wars and natural disasters. This tradition continues to this day at the Palpung Sherabling Monastic Seat in India. From February 26 onwards, Rinpoches, Lamas and Khenpos along with the entire monastic community performed the extensive Gutor Mahakala puja day and night without interruption. On March 3 and 4, they performed the first part of the Grand Gutor Mahakala sacred dances which liberate upon seeing, the dances without masks and on the next day, they performed the main sacred dances with masks. This was followed by the concluding ritual of averting obstacles, which began with casting out the torma and ended with a fire puja. Thus, the elaborate Grand Gutor Mahakala puja was completed at the conclusion of the Earth Dog year.
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