Name: the Lhapa

Medium: Digital 2D

Software(s): Photoshop

Date: Nov 2023

Story:

All Lhapas practice a similar healing tradition, with the main difference being the deities in which they take refuge. When patients come for treatment, an elaborate altar is constructed and the Lhapa dons a costume and headdress. They sing and call in their helping deities and once these have all gathered in a mirror on the altar, the deity who will do the healing work embodies the Lhapa…at which point the Lhapa jumps to his feet and dances.

Treatments can include sucking the illness out of the body with actual objects being spit out to show the patient the source of their illness, a soul retrieval ceremony (Lha Kuck), a ceremony to send a deceased soul who is stuck into the afterlife (Shim pu) or a ritual to cut the misfortune that has caused child after child in a family to die (Rhi). They are famous for curing rabies. At the end of the treatment, when the deity leaves and the Lhapa comes back to himself, the headdress falls off, signaling the end of the ceremony. Each treatment can last for hours and is run by a mediator who speaks with the deity on behalf of the patient.