Most of these recordings were collected in 2010 by Francois Jouffa during the Tibetan Thangka Unveiling Festival (“The Sunning of the Buddha Festival”) at the monastery of Tashilhunpo, founded in the fifteenth century by Gendun Drub, the first Dalai Lama. With its several temples, this holly city has become an important site of pilgrimage for the followers of the Gelugpa religious school known as the “Yellow Hats” (whose fascinating headgears were immortalized by Herge in Tintin in Tibet), which is the one of the most revered sects of Buddhism. In addition to the “Tibet - The Jokhang in Lhasa” disc (FA5312 in this collection), this new album allows the listener to explore an ancient mystical tradition to the sound of long Tibetan horns and giant cymbals that echo in the Himalayan mountains, prayers and monks philosophical verbal sparring matches. Patrick FReMEAUX