Monlam festival begins at the Labrang Monastery in a Tibetan area of China, Xiahe

Tibetan monks carry a giant Thangka of Buddha, or tapestry, up a mountain near the Labrang Monastery, the largest Tibetan monastery outside of Lhasa, during the Tibetan Monlam Festival in Xiahe, a small town in Gansu Province on the Tibetan plateau, February 4, 2012. Thousand of Tibetan monks, pilgrims and nomads have converged on the monastery for the annual "Sunning of the Buddha" ritual, in which the world's largest Thangka of Buddha (90ft in length, 40ft in width) is unveiled at first light on the side of a mountain. The Monlam festival, or Great Prayer Festival, is the grandest religious festival in Tibet. UPI/Stephen Shaver