Everest Mani Rimdu Festival Trek - 20 days

Introduction to Everest Mani Rimdu Festival Trek

Mani Rimdu Festival seems to be celebrated the first time in 1930. Rongbukh Monastery in Tibet is the place from where this festival is originated. It’s one of the most fascinating High Himalayan Buddhist festivals observed every year, usually in November (date fixed by the lunar calendar) in the Tengboche monastery.

Mani Rimdu is a 19-day sequence of sacred ceremonies and empowerments, culminating in a 3-day public festival. It's an opportunity for the local Sherpa and Tibetan communities, to gather and celebrate together with the monastic community.

Mani Rimdu is a re-creation of legendary events; the establishment of Buddhism in Tibet by the great saint, Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava). Through the dances, symbolic demons are conquered, dispelled, or converted to Dharma Protectors, as positive forces clash with those of chaos. The dances convey the Buddhist teachings on many levels - from the simplest to the most profound - for those who do not have the opportunity to study and meditate extensively.

The monks who perform the dances, first take vows at an empowerment ceremony with Trulshig Rinpoche. During the dances, they become deities, rather than ordinary people. Because the dances are regarded as sacred, they can only be performed in the context of Mani Rimdu, and not for ordinary entertainment. Trulshig Rinpoche explains, “seeing Mani Rimdu is like receiving a blessing.”

Following is the schedule for the Everest Mani Rimdu Festival of this year :

1.WONG (blessings) - 6 Nov. 2019

2.CHHAM (masked dance) - 7 Nov. 2019

3.JHINSAK (fire offerings) - 8 Nov. 2019

4.LHOKPAR (destruction of the sand mandala) - 9 Nov. 2019

This trek offers you trek to Everest Base Camp at the same time, first we trek to Everest Base Camp, enjoy the nature of the high Himalayas, experience the adventure trekking and on the way back, we participate the Mani Rimdu Festival at Tengboche Monastery and we continue our trek to Lukla and fly back to KTM with life’s unforgettable experiences.

The Everest area known locally as Sagarmatha National Park is home to some of the world's highest peaks as well as the famous Sherpas, migrants from eastern Tibet who crossed over the Himalaya and settled here sometime in the late 1400s or early 1500s. This trek is one that goes deep into the heart of the Himalaya. The mountain views are stunning, and the simplicity and hospitality of the Sherpa community are heartwarming. You will get to take in the awe-inspiring views of Mt. Everest, the tallest of them all, Mt Lhotse, Mt. Nuptse, Lobuche Peak, Mt Amadablam, Kasum Kangru peak, Thamserku peak, and Kwangde peak. You will also be visiting Sherpa villages and monasteries to gain insight into their culture and lifestyle from up close. 

Journey Outline

This classic trek into the Solu-Khumbu region begins with a spectacular mountain flight to Lukla & continually trekking along the Dudh Kosi ("Milk River"). After crossing the Namche Bazar” Sherpa head quarter/Capital” we will continue on to Tengboche with its beautiful Buddhist monastery. This small village is considered the spiritual center of the Khumbu area. We will gradually make our ascent to Dengboche (4,410m), Lobuche (4,910m) and finally along the glacial moraine to GorakShep (5,140m) at the base of Kala Pattar (5,550m). Now you will have the option of a sunset or sunrise climb to the 5,550m' summit of Kala Pattar for a panoramic view of some of the world's highest mountains including Everest at 29,028'. We'll make the 3-hour trek on to Everest Base Camp where, depending on the season, you'll see mountaineering expeditions preparing for their ascent to the highest peak in the world, beginning with the spectacular Khumbu Icefall. Now we take step back to Pheruche and next to Debouche, where we actively participate the great Buddhist festival “Mani Rimdu Festival” at Tengbouche monastery, spending 3 nights at Debuche and after the festival, we continue our 

TRIP HIGHTLIGHTS

• Climbing of Nagarjun Peak (5,200m), Kalapathar Peak (5,550m)
• Trekking up to Everest Base camp
• Participation of life changing Buddhist Festival Mani Rimdu Festival at Tengboche Monastery

Fitness Requirements 

This kind of trek is challenging but doesn’t really require previous trekking and mountaineering experiences and also doesn’t require any technical experience. But if you have any previous experiences would be really helpful. Your fitness is crucial for this trek; therefore we strongly suggest preparing yourself in good physical condition.

You need to be trained at least for about 3 to 5 months to prepare yourself as a strong candidate. You can go to the fitness center every morning for about 1.5 hours, do hiking every weekend with increasing weights on your pack, manage some time for cycling for a couple of hours for 2 or 3 times a week. However, at the high altitude, there might be little symptoms of altitude illness like mild headache, fatigue, etc. but take it as normal and just drink enough water (4 – 5 liters) every day. On this trek, you need to be able to hike 4 – 8 hours over hilly terrain up to 5,500m of altitude with a daypack.

Value of Previous Experience

If you have any previous experiences of similar grade trek would be helpful, but if you don’t have is also not a really important matter of issue. This trek will introduce you to high altitude trekking in the Himalayas and also about the local cultures, traditions, and local people.

Even if you are around the age of 65 years, you can be a candidate for this trek.