Thangka adorns hillside during Shoton

Celebrations of the annual Shoton Festival began in Lhasa, the Tibet autonomous region, on Monday.

The seven-day event got underway at Drepung Monastery, the largest monastery of Tibetan Buddhism's Gelug Sect, where a large thangka painting of the Buddha was put on display.

The festival has three main parts: the Great Buddha Display, Tibetan Opera Show and Horsemanship and Yak Race Show.