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Photos: Vanishing Cultures Project Captures Threatened Tibetan Traditions

February 22nd, 2012
Monks dress as different animals, demons and divinities to enact an epic fight between good and evil during the Tiji Festival in Lo Manthang. (Taylor Weidman)
A group of senior monks gather for a ceremony on a field outside of Lo Manthang. (Taylor Weidman)
The King's old palace in Tsarang, viewed from the town's monastery. (Taylor Weidman)
The winter monastery keeper stands for a portrait in the main hall of the monastery in Tetang. (Taylor Weidman)
In a staging area inside of the king's palace, a group of monks helps prepare dancers for an upcoming ceremony during the Tiji Festival. (Taylor Weidman)
A group of Loba men gather in the fields outside of Lo Manthang during the planting season. (Taylor Weidman)
Closely-built homes protect residents from strong winds in Tangge, on the edge of the Kali Gandaki tributary. (Taylor Weidman)
At the end of the Tiji festival, members of the king's court gather with their muskets to chase the demon from the city.  (Taylor Weidman)
The Tiji Festival features dancers elaborately costumed as animals, demons and divinities. (Taylor Weidman)
Tashi Dolkar Gurung, a Loba woman, removes gravel from rice near the light of a window in her earthen home in Lo Manthang. (Taylor Weidman)
The former king of Lo, Jigme Palbar Bista, still plays an important part during the Tiji Festival. (Taylor Weidman)
A young man rides his horse down the Kali Gandaki River valley. (Taylor Weidman)
Villagers of Phuwa load bags of fertilizer onto horses to be taken to the fields. (Taylor Weidman)
A monk leads a horse between the towns of Ghemi and Dhakmar. (Taylor Weidman)
A monk walks through the alleyways of Lo Manthang. (Taylor Weidman)
Dhakmar villagers return to the town after a day of working in the fields. (Taylor Weidman)
Enlarge Hide captions

Led by photographer Taylor Weidman and writer Nina Wegner, the Vanishing Cultures Project aims to help indigenous groups preserve their culture through documentary journalism and advocacy.

Last year, the duo journeyed to a remote corner of Nepal, or the former Kingdom of Lo, to document the Loba people and the imminent and rapid changes they face from the construction of a highway that will connect Kathmandu and China — and, for the first time, open their traditional way of life to the world.

For centuries, the ethnically Tibetan people of Lo have scratched out a living in the desert mountains through subsistence agriculture and trade on the ancient Salt Route from Tibet to India. Due to political and geographical isolation, much of Loba culture and lifestyle remains unchanged from the 1500s.

Already, the Loba are taking measures to safeguard valuable aspects of their cultural heritage in an age of globalization. As Nina Wegner explained via email, "A new school in Lo Manthang offers the national curriculum in the Loba’s native language of Lowa, while an amchi (Tibetan doctor) school instills young people with the science, art and philosophy of Tibetan medicine."

For its next assignment, the Vanishing Cultures Project will document the lives of nomadic pastoral herders in Mongolia, where the environmental fallout from the country's booming mining industry is leading nomads to give up their ancient way of life.

You can follow their updates on Facebook and Twitter.

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About the Author

Profile picture for user Shreeya Sinha
Shreeya Sinha is an award-winning Journalist, Multimedia Producer and Social Media Editor for Asia Society. She was raised in Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and India.
 @shreeyasinha
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