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The arrival of the first Tibetan monks in Europe was surrounded with controversy, deeply straining Anglo-Tibetan relations. One group of monks, arriving in 1924, performed Buddhist rituals before showings of the silent film Epic of Everest, sparking the “Dancing Lamas” affair.

The director, John Noel, filmed the British Everest expedition where George Mallory and Andrew Irvine lost their lives. The first half of the film looks at Tibetan life in and around Rongbuk Monastery at the foot of Everest, including several brief scenes showing monastic ritual.

To help advertise the film in London, Noel brought several monks from Tibet and had them perform informal rituals as part of a “live prologue” (seen here). Newspapers report the monks chanted while playing long trumpets and beating drums and cymbals; some claimed they performed “devil dances.”

These reports were received in Tibet with furor; the Dalai Lama viewed the spectacle as disrespectful to Tibetan Buddhism and exploitative of Tibetan people. Consequently, a British Everest expedition the next year was refused by the Dalai Lama; the next British attempt at Everest came in 1932.

Noel toured Europe with his film accompanied by the Tibetan monks, but the controversy caused him to send the monks home before touring the United States. Noel’s silent film, Epic of Everest, is viewable here: tinyurl.com/3df4axfn.

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