The Ta'er Monastery in northwest China's Qinghai Province held its annual prayer festival on March 1, the fourteenth day of the first month of lunar Tibetan calendar, accompanied by the surging and powerful sound of dharma instruments.

"Ta'er Monastery is the birthplace of Tsongkhapa, who founded the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism," said 65-year-old Sangye Kangdrol, accompanied by his daughter from Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Qinghai Province.

"It is a sacred place. If we are able, we will always come to the festival and see the butter sculptures on the next day."

At about 12:40, the ceremony begins when the Living Buddha arrives at the Manjushri Hall.

"When I was a child, my family and I had to spend a whole day on horseback to come. Now transportation is more convenient, and I can get here from my home in one hour," Sanggye Kangdrol said.

"Joining the festival can protect us against misfortune," she said.

Zhao Ruiqin, following with other 17 people from Taiwan who arrived in Qinghai six days prior, said, "we are very interested in Tibetan Buddhism, so we came specially here."

"We don't really understand what they are saying because no one has explained it to us. We can only record video, then check what everything means after we get back," she said.

"I once participated in such activity in Taiwan, but I never expected the one here to be such a large scale and so spectacular. The monks are varied in ages and the ceremony inherits very well, so I'm quite touched by the experience."

At 14:00, music blared throughout the venue while monks blew divine tunes. Then the one wearing dark blue buffalo mask and wrathful Yamantaka mask came on stage to perform dance. He later joined dancers in masks like yak and deer and formed a circle together. It is at this point that the ceremony reaches its climax.

Editor: Ana Wu