A TROUPE of Tibetan monks will be performing their unique masked dances at a Cotswold art gallery next month.

The Tashi Lhunpo monks are the special guests at a day of Tibetan music, dance and culture at the Alain Rouveure Gallery on Saturday, July 2.

The performance by the monks features dances, traditional Tibetan musical instruments, the sound of sacred mantras, and elaborate, colourful costumes.

Mudras - symbolic or ritual gestures - are used to revitalise spiritual energies which generate wisdom, compassion and the healing powers of enlightened beings.

The performance is accompanied by explanations of the significance and meaning behind the dances and prayers, and provides a fascinating glimpse into an ancient cultural tradition far removed from modern Western society.

During the day, the monks will be working on a sand mandala and holding a number of workshops, where the monks will teach mandala making, prayer flag printing, butter sculpture and dukar-wheel making.

The monks have been touring from their monastery for over a decade sharing their culture with audiences at festivals and theatres throughout the UK and Europe. They have been frequent visitors to the Edinburgh Fringe, and also appeared at Glastonbury Festival, the Eisteddfod in Llandudno, on London’s South Bank and at many other venues.

Gallery owner Alain Rouveure said: "We have in the past been very lucky to attend some of their touring events in London and Cheltenham.

"These wonderful dedicated monks are as serene as they are full of joy.

"This all-day event is a real opportunity to open a window into an extraordinary world and being close to some of the gentlest beings you will ever meet in your life."

Tashi Lhunpo Monastery was founded by the first Dalai Lama in Tibet in 1447, and subsequently became the monastery of Tibet’s second most important lama, the Panchen Lama. Following the 14th Dalai Lama’s escape from Tibet in 1959 and the ravages of the Chinese Cultural Revolution in the 1960s, the monastery was re-established in South India in 1972 by a small group of monks who were able to escape.

The gallery is at Crossing Cottage, Stretton-on-Fosse, Moreton-in-Marsh.