Sun shines on the Buddha

Lamas and local Tibetans pray in front of a huge thangka during a Sunning the Buddha ceremony at Langmu Monastery in northwest China's Gansu Province yesterday. About 20,000 people took part in the event, about half of them tourists and photographers from around the world. Featuring the Buddha, a thangka is an artwork combining painting and embroidery. Each lamasery has its own thangka and airs it on different days, though usually on the 13th day of the first month of the lunar calendar. Legend has it that once a thangka is unveiled for the ceremony rain will stop in the area. Another legend says that when the forehead of the Buddha is revealed as the thangka is unfolded, the first ray of sunlight will always shine on it.