It a sacred Tibetan dance ritual, coming from Himalayan Buddhist traditions. It reflects how everything is transitory including one’s body. The monk pictured in the above photo seems to be performing the dance known as Durdak Garcham, or “Dance of the Lords of the Cemetery.” Durdak Garcham celebrates the liberation that comes from acceptance of our impermanence. Traditionally danced by a couple, the Lord and Lady of the Charnel Ground, they dance the eternal dance of death. And, it is hoped, their dance ends with the attainment of perfect consciousness which frees one from the dance forever.
Taken in 1925, these photographs were published in National Geographic in its November 1928 issue.