Dancing festival in Ladakh

Monks wearing masks perform a ritual dance on the second and last day of a festival in Hemis Gompa, 45 km (28 miles) southeast of Leh July 11, 2011. The Hemis Gompa is the oldest and biggest monastery in Ladakh. The annual festival celebrates the birth anniversary of Guru Padmasambhava, the founder of Lamaism (an off-shoot of Buddhism) in the eighth century. The festival is marked by ritual dancing in which dancers wear masks representing deities and evil spirits