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Mani Rimdu 2026: Masked Monks Battle Demons at 3,867m — How to Time Your Everest Trek Around It

Mani Rimdu, the Sherpa Buddhist festival that has run for over a century, returns to Tengboche Monastery around 26–28 October 2026. Here is what actually happens, and how to build an Everest Base Camp trek around it.

LR 作者 Laxman Rawal · 2026年7月31日 · 3 分钟阅读 · 更新于 2026年7月31日

Mani Rimdu 2026: Masked Monks Battle Demons at 3,867m — How to Time Your Everest Trek Around It

At 3,867 metres, in the thin autumn air of the Khumbu, monks in fanged wooden masks spin and stamp to drums and long horns, acting out Buddhism's defeat of a demon. This is not a show staged for tourists. Mani Rimdu is one of the oldest continuously observed festivals in the Everest region, and this year its public days fall squarely inside peak trekking season — meaning a well-timed Everest Base Camp trek can walk straight into it.

Key facts

Public masked dances at Tengboche Monastery are set for around 26–28 October 2026, the climax of a 19-day ritual cycle
Tengboche Monastery sits at 3,867m in the Khumbu, roughly 4–5 trekking days from Lukla
The festival is also held at Chiwong and Thami monasteries, on their own separate lunar-calendar dates
Origins trace to Rongphuk Monastery in Tibet, c. 1900, founded by Lama Ngawang Tenzin Norbu
Exact Gregorian dates shift every year because the festival follows the Tibetan lunar calendar — always confirm close to departure

19days in the full ritual cycle

3,867maltitude of Tengboche Monastery

3public festival days open to visitors

3monasteries that hold Mani Rimdu each year

The name comes from mani, the prayer beads and mantras central to the ritual, and rimdu, the sacred dance itself. Most of the 19 days are closed monastic business: senior lamas prepare sand mandalas, bless rilbu pills distributed to the crowd on the final day, and rehearse the choreography of the cham, the masked dance-drama. Only the last three days open the monastery courtyard to everyone, trekkers included. Those three days hold the parts people travel for: the Chham masked dances re-enacting Buddhism's triumph over the pre-Buddhist Bon religion, the Wong blessing ceremony, and the Jinsak fire puja that closes the festival.

c. 1900Founded at Rongphuk

Lama Ngawang Tenzin Norbu establishes the ritual cycle at Rongphuk Monastery, on the Tibetan side of Everest.

Early 1900sCrosses into Nepal

Sherpa monasteries in the Khumbu and Solu valleys — Tengboche, Chiwong and Thami — adopt the festival.

1980s–90sDocumented for the outside world

American scholar Richard Kohn's fieldwork records Mani Rimdu as, in his words, the biggest event of the year for Khumbu's Sherpas.

26–28 Oct 2026Public dances return to Tengboche

The climax of this year's cycle, timed to the full moon of the ninth Tibetan lunar month.

What this means for trekkers

What this means for you

Tengboche sits on every Everest Base Camp itinerary regardless — you sleep there on the way up. The only real decision is whether your dates put you there on the public days. To be at Tengboche around 26–28 October 2026, most itineraries need to leave Kathmandu in the second half of October, reaching Namche Bazaar for acclimatisation before continuing to Tengboche in time for the dances, then carrying on to Base Camp afterwards rather than before.

Two things to plan around. First, this is already the single busiest trekking window of the year in the Khumbu — late October is peak season on its own, before a festival crowd is added — so teahouse beds in Namche and Tengboche book out early and flight seats go fast; a month's notice is the sensible minimum. Second, the dates above are our best current estimate: Mani Rimdu is set by the Tibetan lunar calendar and each monastery confirms the exact days only a few weeks out, so treat late October as the target and confirm before committing to non-refundable flights.

If the timing does not line up, Tengboche is worth visiting regardless — it is the spiritual heart of Sherpa Buddhism in the Khumbu and the best mountain viewpoint on the standard route to Base Camp. For the wider autumn picture, including why every Everest trekker now flies via Manthali rather than Lukla directly, see our autumn 2026 Everest flights report, and check costs on our Everest Base Camp permit guide.

Source: Wikipedia — Mani Rimdu. The 2026 public dates follow the full moon of the ninth Tibetan lunar month; because the festival tracks the lunar calendar, reconfirm the exact days closer to travel.

Cover photo: Samdesherpa via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

来源： Wikipedia — Mani Rimdu

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