LNGA MCHOD 'GANDEN OFFERING OF THE TWENTY-FIFTH DAY' IN MDO BA (DUOWA), THUN RIN (REB GONG, TONGREN) CITY, MTHO SNGON (QINGHAI) PROVINCE, PR CHINA

The history of Mdo ba (Duowa) Monastery, an introduction to Dga' ldan lnga mchod[1] 'Ganden Offering of the Twenty-Fifth Day' and its rituals practiced in the monastery and local communities, and a model for recording and preserving endangered religious activities, cultural practices, social gatherings, and traditions in a rapidly changing society are given in the context of Mdo ba Town, Thun rin (Reb gong, Tongren) City, Mtho sngon (Qinghai) Province, PR China. [1] Names for this festival in English include Butter Lamp Festival, which may be a translation of the Chinese term Randeng jie 燃灯节. The Tibetan name is known as Ganden Ngamchoe. In this article, I will refer to it as Lnga mchod, a short form for Dga' ldan lnga mchod. This short form is the term locals most often use.