Consecration
Upon completion of a temple or an image for meditation, people invite lamas toper form a consecration ceremony on an auspicious day fixed by an astrologer. The main purpose of the consecration ritual is to invite the wisdom beings from their pure Buddha-fields through the power of the practitioner's meditation, the potency of the ritual and the devotion of the hosts. The wisdom beings are invited, merge into the object being consecrated, and their presence is sealed by the procedures of the ritual until the object is damaged. Thus the object is blessed and becomes sacred.
A similar ritual, a deconsecration or transformation ritual, is performed when a consecrated image has tobe repaired or renovated.However, Sakya Pandita wrote in his book The Right Practice of Different Views (Domsum Rabgye):"Consecration of images is not taught in the Sutras. However, if blessing ceremonies and offering rituals on auspicious occasions, such as those performed for a king at his enthronement are consecration rituals, then one may say that consecration rituals are taught therein."
Sacred Dances are carried out by monks for various purposes; from rituals to remove obstacles prior to the creation of a sand mandala("protecting and consecrating the site", in which interfering forces are summoned to protect the mandala site) to offering dances and acting out the life stories of famous Buddhist saints. Several monasteries are famed for their annual sacred dances.His Holiness the Dalai Lama is known however to have warned for making these festivals too worldly; they are intended to be spiritual practices, and should not be reduced to simple entertainment.
