Photograph by Maria Seo
Phursang Kelak Lama - Tibet
Listen to an example of Tibetan ceremonial music (Warning: 849k - play back at 44100 kHz)
Kelak Lama is an acknowledged master performer, director and teacher of the music of the Kar ma pa branch of the Bka' brgyud pa tradition. Born in 1937 to a nomad family in Nangchen, Eastern Tibet, he entered Dil yag monastery at age ten and began a lifelong study of the instruments. Joining the exodus of Tibetans after the Chinese takeover of the country in the 1950s, he settled at Karmaraj Mahavihara Monastery in Swayambhu, near Kathmandu, Nepal, where he has served as Dbu Mdzad (Ritual and Musical Director) for over 25 years.
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