Kelcham
The Farewell Dance

A King's Emotional Departure

Kelcham literally translates as "the farewell dance," taking its name from its association with King Norzang's emotional and nervous departure to the battlefield. As he set out, his tutelary deities are said to have appeared to him in a variety of animal-faced forms, providing an escort and making invocations on his behalf to ensure victory over his enemy — allowing him ultimately to return home with great pride and honour.

All sixteen dancers carry a sword in the right hand, symbolising the weapons that destroy anger — both the anger directed at others and the anger that lives within oneself. In Buddhist teaching, war and conflict are understood to originate from a mind clouded by animosity, ignorance, and desire, and it is these inner qualities — not any external enemy — that are considered a person's truest and most destructive adversary.

A Brief Interlude Within a Longer Story

The sixteen performers dance for only a few minutes, since the Kelcham represents a kind of "seeing off" — always performed in the middle of the longer Pholay Moley Cham, the Dance of Noblemen and Charming Ladies, rather than standing alone. The dance is led by a performer wearing a garuda mask, followed by a procession of other animal masks: tiger, ox, goat, leopard, lion, wolf, wild boar, crocodile, horse, stag, snake, hind, bat, lake ox, and earth ox. Unlike many of the wrathful Cham dances that dominate a festival's programme, all of these masks carry peaceful expressions, and the dancers wear beautifully ornate costumes throughout.

Where to See the Kelcham

Because the Kelcham is embedded within the Pholay Moley Cham rather than performed as a standalone item, it is easy to miss if you don't know to look for it. Found Bhutan's guides will identify the moment it begins within the longer performance.