A devout Tibetan Buddhist prays in front of the exhibition of giant thangka on the annual Shoton Yogurt Festival on Friday in Lhasa. [Photo by Palden Nyima/chinadaily.com.cn

Accompanied by the sound of long bronze horns and religious chanting reverberating through the valley, Buddhist monks slowly unrolled the thangka on a hill slope aside the region's Drepung Monastery.

The thangka was unrolled at the Drepung and Sera monasteries at 8 am.

According to an anonymous monk at the Drepung monastery, different from last year when the image of Buddha Shakyamuni was displayed, this year the image of the Future Buddha, known as Gyalwa Champa in the Tibetan language, was exhibited.

As it rained from time to time in the morning, monks covered the embroidery with thin plastic sheeting.