Portions of the following account of the Tiji Festival are excerpted from: East of Lo Manthang: In the land of Mustang. Peter Matthiessen and Thomas Laird, Shambhala Press, Boston, 1995. and Mustang, a Lost Tibetan Kingdom. Michel Peissel, Book Faith India, Delhi, India, 1967.

"We found ourselves in the midst of a festival in which over a thousand men, women and children were taking part. Before us spread a sea of weather-beaten brown faces that contrasted with those of the beaming, dirty little children who clung like grapes upon the rooftops of the houses" " The women… looked superb in hand-woven sleeveless Chubas (a bath-robe style dress made of thick wool) over bright, loose silk blouses. Around their wastbands were tucked two aprons, a short one that hung down in front, the other caught in the belt and hanging down behind to the ground. These were gaily striped in bright, narrow bands of blue, red, green and yellow. Many women were literally smothered with ornaments of silver and precious stones…necklaces of bright orange corralline stones alternating with turquoises…ivory-white bracelets made of truncated conch shell (and). head-dresses…studded with turquoises. ran along the central parting of their hair and fell down their backs." Michel Peissel

Michel Peissel was the first westerner to witness the Tiji festival in 1964 during a visit to Mustang by special permission of the Government of Nepal. He was also only the third westerner to ever visit Mustang. He arrived in Lo Manthang in time to witness only the last day of the festival and later wrote: "The scenes I witnessed were so extraordinary and so unexpected that I dared not believe my eyes and even today I have some trouble in believing in the reality of what I saw that day."

The Tiji festival is a three-day ritual known as "The chasing of the Demons" that centers on the Tiji myth. The myth tells of a deity named Dorje Jono who must battle against his demon father to save the Kingdom of Mustang from destruction. The demon father wreaked havoc on Mustang by bringing a shortage of water (a highly precious resource in this very dry land) and causing many resulting disasters from famine to animal loss. Dorje Jono eventually beats the demon and banishes him from the land. Teji is a celebration and reaffirmation of this myth and throughout the festival the various scenes of the myth will be enacted. It is of course timed to coincide with the end of the dry winter / spring season and will usher in the wetter monsoon season (the growing season for Mustang). Tiji comes from the word "ten che" meaning the hope of Buddha Dharma prevailing in all worlds and is effectively a spring renewal festival.