Tibetans Mark The Great Prayer

TONGREN, CHINA - MARCH 03 : Worshippers crowd for blessings around Tibetan Buddhist Monks of the Gelug or Yellow Hat school dressed in masks for a Cham dance at the Rongwo Monastery during Monlam or the Great Prayer, on March 3, 2018 in Tongren, also known as Rebkong, Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai, China. Monlam or the Great Prayer is the most important prayer event for many Tibetan Buddhists. Pilgrims and worshippers join prayers, teachings and rituals at the monasteries of the Gelug or Yellow Hat, school of Tibetan Buddhism to pray for long life, peace and harmony. An enormous scroll-painting or thangka is carried and unrolled as an offering to Buddha. Monlam begins after the Lunar New Year and lasts for up to two weeks across the ethnic Tibetan regions of western China. Despite accusations of religious repression, China's atheist government claims that Tibetans are free to practise their beliefs and says several faiths are protected by the country's constitution. However, followers of Tibetan Buddhism must adhere to restrictions and controls imposed by a central government wary of the religion's politicization. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)