Visitors to Mustang have been allowed since 1992, but are limited in order to protect the local Tibetan traditions and environment
Monks return to the city after performing ceremonies in a nearby field during the Tenchi Festival on May 27, 2014 in Lo Manthang, Nepal. The Tenchi Festival takes place annually in Lo Manthang, the capital of Upper Mustang and the former Tibetan Kingdom of Lo.
Monks chant from Tibetan scriptures during the Tenchi Festival on May 27, 2014 in Lo Manthang, Nepal. Each spring, monks perform ceremonies, rites, and dances during the Tenchi Festival to dispel evils and demons from the former kingdom.
A child stands for a portrait in a city alley before ceremonies begin for the Tenchi Festival on May 27, 2014 in Lo Manthang, Nepal. Once the Forbidden Kingdom of Mustang, it is still hidden away from most travellers, and lies just north of the Himalayas in Nepal.
The tsowo, or lead monk during the Tenchi ceremonies, performs ceremonial dances outside of the city gates during the Tenchi Festival on May 27, 2014 in Lo Manthang, Nepal. It is said that the land in Mustang is as "barren as a dead deer” but that “the soul of the man is still considered to be as real as the feet he walks on.”
The tsowo, or lead monk, performs dances during the final day of the Tenchi Festival on May 27, 2014 in Lo Manthang, Nepal. Mustang was part of the Tibetan Kingdom of Gungthang until the early 19th Century. The walled city of Lo Monthang, the unofficial capital of Mustang, is still today a kingdom within a kingdom.
Traditionally dressed representatives of Upper Mustang's villages prepare their antique guns before firing them to chase demons from the city during the Tenchi Festival on May 27, 2014 in Lo Manthang, Nepal. Lo Monthang’s king still holds his title, and since 1951 when the territory became part of Nepal, he also holds the honorary rank of Colonel in the Nepalese army.
Monks play dungchen, or Tibetan horns, on the final day of ceremonies during the Tenchi Festival on May 27, 2014 in Lo Manthang, Nepal. Visitors to Mustang have been allowed since 1992, but are limited in order to protect the local Tibetan traditions and environment.
Elaborately dressed monks perform ceremonial dances outside of the city gates during the Tenchi Festival on May 27, 2014 in Lo Manthang, Nepal. The region is known for its dry valleys, canyons, yak caravans, ochre valley, and colored mud-brick houses.
Monks play music and perform Buddhist ceremonies outside of the city gates during the Tenchi Festival on May 27, 2014 in Lo Manthang, Nepal. It is surrounded by the mountains of Nilgiri, Tukche, Annapurna and Dhaulagiri
Monks gather outside of the city's gates to perform a ceremony during the Tenchi Festival on May 27, 2014 in Lo Manthang, Nepal. The event is also known as “The chasing of the Demons,” and treks to the region can be organized by Mustang Trekking.
