Buchens are performers of specialist rituals and are also known as travelling lama-actors. Every winter, religious specialists, both male and female, are invited by local Buddhist families to chant religious scriptures and celebrate rituals. They reside in the culturally Tibetan, Pin Valley of Spiti. Buchen households possess individual ‘archives’, collections of written story texts and texts of rituals, thangkas and other important details. Their performances consist of a mixture of prayers, songs, miracle plays, and stone-breaking feats. These Lamas perform a rare puja in dance form to drive out evil from the village and houses. Buchens are mostly known for an elaborate exorcism called the ‘Ceremony of Breaking the Stone’, once performed by groups in Western Tibet.

Buchen texts and thangkas are seriously endangered. Much appears to have already disappeared. Some of the material has been sold, some worn out by heavy use, others damaged by poor storage. Changing Himalayan weather patterns are causing significant problems to mud houses in Spiti. There is supposed to be only one surviving Buchen Artist in Pin Valley, the locals can guide you to his performance. The practice may already be extinct in Tibet.