Masks of Tibetan Opera[Photo/VTIBET]

Tbetan Opera, or “Akyi Lhamo” in Tibetan was listed in the representatives of Intangible Cultural Heritage of the United Nations in 2009. Boasting a history of 600 years, it is honored as the “living fossil” of the Tibetan culture.

Masks of Tibetan Opera[Photo/ganzixinwen]

The Tibetan Opera is very popular in Tibet and the Tibetan-inhabited areas in Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu and Yunnan provinces. It consists of eight major genres including the White Facial Mask Opera, the Blue Facial Mask Opera, Monpa Opera, Chamdo Opera, Ando Opera, Derge Opera, Minyag Opera and Gyarong Opera.

Masks of Tibetan Opera[Photo/ganzixinwen]

Except for the Chamdo Opera and Minyag Opera, masks must be worn in all the other operas. They help highlight the characters of heroes in the operas in symbolic and exaggerated way. Generally, the Tibetan Opera masks are composed of the Obar Mask, formal Mask, Deity Mask and Animal Mask, representing the fisherman or hunter(the narrator as well as singer or dancer of the Tibetan Opera), king, minister, queen and concubine, rinpoche, lama, demon or monster, deity or god according to difference color and image of the mask.